A New Journey
by CounterMotion
Summary: Originally known as A New World, but rewritten. Mithos is finally defeated, and the group splits up. Lloyd and Sheena go out on a journey to destroy all the exspheres, but it won't be as easy as they hope it to be. SheenaXLloyd More pairings inside.
1. The beginning of a new one

Just in case you were wondering, I formerly used the screen name, "RiddlenKid" and wrote "A New World". However, I stopped for 2 years, but I'm finally back, and I'm rewriting to make it better. I also changed the title, as the summary suggests. I wanted to start anew, so I deleted the old story to replace it with this one, which is hopefully much better. I would also like to thank the people who have reviewed my story in the past. They've helped a lot, and they're a big reason why I'm rewriting and continuing this story. ) Well, on with it! Please R&R, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia

Rated PG13 for sexual situations, violence and language.

A/N: **In case you didn't read the summary, this is after the final battle of ToS, so, spoilers I guess.**  
-Zelos does not hate Kratos.  
-Sylvarant and Tethe'alla are two separate continents in the same world.  
-Action/Adventure part doesn't really pick up until Chapter 6  
Pairings: Mainly LloydXSheena. Small GenisXPresea, KratosXRaine-ish (A little bit of Anna). There may be other pairings, but I guess you guys will have to read to find out. )

* * *

…_You and I think a lot alike, Sheena! I think we could become great friends._

_...Great...friends…_

…_Oh, you don't want to?..._

_...Idiot!_

* * *

…_I-I want to be with you…_

…_S-sure I want to be with you too._

…_R...really! Then it's settled okay? You can't change your mind now! We're going on a journey to collect all the exspheres in the world…._

…_Yeah. That way, no more people will fall victim to the Exspheres and these things will never be dragged into a conflict like this again._

…_It's a promise. If you don't keep it. I'm going to invoke the Mizuho tradition of making a liar swallow a thousand needles._

* * *

"_Common Lloyd, name the tree for us"_

"_I name this tree…" _

**Chapter 1: The beginning of a new one**

"_Yggdrasil."_

Colette beamed at Lloyd, "that's a great name!"

Lloyd smiled, "Common, we should be heading back to the others."

"Ok", Colette said.

_Lloyd and Colette flew back to the others._

When Lloyd saw the others, he flew down, and Colette followed.

"YOU'RE BACK!" Exclaimed a tear-crying, happy Sheena, as she ran as fast as she could to Lloyd, and gave him a hug.

Lloyd blushed, "h-hey, I'm back."

Everyone smiled at Sheena and Lloyd. Even Zelos was smiling, Lloyd, the person who made the biggest difference in his life aside from Seles seemed to have finally gotten a "hunnie".

Lloyd, still oblivious to the fact that Sheena had grown very fond of him, hugged her back.

"Lloyd has a girlfriend, Lloyd has a girlfriend!" Genis chanted.

The two immediately broke apart and blushed like crazy.

"Shut up Genis!" Lloyd shouted angrily.

"Errr… errrr…" Sheena mumbled while looking at the floor.

"Lloyd has a girlfriend? Who is it?" Colette asked innocently.

"Sheena!" Genis laughed.

"OH! Congratulations Lloyd!... Hehe…" Colette exclaimed.

"Shut up Genis!" Lloyd shouted louder.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh or smile.

"_Heh, my son's all grown up now." _Kratos thought.

Genis went to Presea's side, who was had a questioning look on her face.

"What's wrong Presea?" Genis asked.

"N-nothing." Presea blushed, "They both look pretty happy together…"

"Ye-yeah…" Genis sighed sadly, hoping to have a good conversation with Presea.

Little did Genis know that Presea was thinking if Genis and her could ever be like that.

Lloyd calmed everyone down and said it was just a sign of friendship.

Genis went over to Lloyd, "Oh Lloyd! Can I see your wings? They were so big! Pull them out!" Genis exclaimed.

Lloyd pulled out his wings, "errr… like that?"

Everyone was in awe of his big wings.

"Yeah!" Genis and Colette shouted.

"Whoa! Awesome!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Big." Presea said.

"HEY! NO FAIR! HOW COME LLOYD GETS BIG WINGS? I AM THE CHOSEN OF TETHE'ALLA!" Zelos whined.

"It's because of his exsphere, the one that was supposed to be for the Angelus project, has evolved." Kratos said.

Zelos crossed his arms and sighed, _"I want big wings too…"_

Colette ran up to Lloyd, "Oh they're so big Lloyd!"

Presea, Zelos and Raine ran up to Lloyd to see his wings up front.

"Fascinating…" Raine said.

_Poke poke poke_

"Hey quit it Presea! Everyone leave me alone!" Lloyd exclaimed as he flew up.

"Alright everybody, leave Lloyd alone, I think he's had enough." Kratos said.

"Awww, but they're so cool!" Genis and Colette cried out.

"No they're not! They're just wings, listen to Kratos! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Lloyd shouted as he landed, putting away his wings.

Sheena and Regal laughed.

"Hey what's so funny?" Lloyd questioned.

They just continued laughing.

"Hahaha… Ok guys, where do we go from here?" Lloyd asked.

"A good question, for once." Raine smiled, "well I suggest that we all have one last meeting, and then go from there, everyone agree?"

Everyone nodded.

Kratos walked up to Lloyd. "Lloyd… my son, haven't you realized yet?"

"Realized what da-Kratos?" Lloyd inquired.

Kratos sighed, "Lloyd, Sheena has been growing quite fond of you since she's met you."

Lloyd looked at Sheena puzzled, Sheena was already looking at him but turned away, blushing. Lloyd laughed cheerfully, "Of course Kratos, why would anyone NOT like me? I mean, I haven't done anything wrong… I think."

Kratos gave Lloyd a cut-eye, "Don't you understand what I'm saying!" Said Kratos, frustrated, "do you even know what fond means!"

"Of course, it's a feeling when someone likes another person. It's like I'm fond of everyone!" Lloyd said happily.

Kratos gave up and walked off.

"_Huh? Did I say something_?" Lloyd asked himself.

Everyone was waiting for Lloyd's orders.

"Well it's time we get going, off to Meltokio!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"YAY! All my hunnies will be waiting for me, and I'll have such a great time!" Zelos cheered.

Everyone sighed.

* * *

Me: Writing for Colette is annoying. :( Anyway, thank you for reading! More coming soon.  



	2. One last night together

**Chapter 2: One last night together**

_At Meltokio, Zelos' mansion._

Everyone settled and made themselves comfortable in Zelos' home after they had entered Meltokio with a heroes' welcome.

Zelos called for everyone's attention, "Well, time to go see my hunnies!" He announced gleefully, as he left his mansion.

Everyone sighed.

Everyone settled down and unpacked everything into their own rooms, while Lloyd was resting in the living room too lazy to move. After Sheena had done her unpacking, she went downstairs for a drink and noticed Lloyd.

"H-hey big guy." Sheena said blushing.

_ZzZzZzZzZzZ_

Sheena sighed, sat down beside Lloyd and poked him until he woke up.

Four minutes later Lloyd finally woke up.

"H-hey! OUCH! Hey stop! Quit it!" Lloyd shouted.

Sheena laughed. "Morning Lloyd."

"Huh what? Oh, good morning Sheena." Lloyd said.

"It's actually 5:00pm in the afternoon." She replied.

"Oh." Lloyd said dumbly.

They sat there for a little while, just looking at each other.

"So what's up with Mizuho?" Lloyd asked, "Any news?"

"Mizuho…? Well… I don't know what's really going on yet, but I want to go back there soon. After all, I _am_ the new chief of the village, but I think we're going to move to Sylvarant." Sheena replied.

"Really! Well that's cool!" It can make travel between my place and yours easier after our journey!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Yeah… it would huh…" Sheena said softly… _"We'll be living separately…?"_

"You'll be a great chief Sheena. I'm sure of it." Lloyd said softly, smiling.

"Thanks Lloyd…" Sheena smiled.

"By the way, do you know where the people of Mizuho are going to live in Sylvarant, if they move there?" Lloyd inquired.

"The area around Luin is nice… and I know the people there… or maybe we could move to an area near Iselia." Sheena replied cheerfully.

"Yeah… I was really proud of you when I learned of what you did for the people of Luin. Dad and Raine had doubts about you at first, but I never did. I knew you were a good person from the start, just by looking at you." Lloyd said.

"Yeah…?" Sheena asked embarrassed, "H-how could you tell...?"

"OH! Ummm… well just by the looks of you! Haha…" Lloyd replied, giving a half answer.

Sheena smiled shyly, "Wh-wh-what about my lo-looks?"

Lloyd was a bit stunned and embarrassed. _Yawn_ "Well, I think I'm going to go back to sleep Sheena, I'm a bit tired after all those events. I'll see you at dinner." He smiled, hoping end the conversation.

"Heh… yeah… I'll see you at dinner Lloyd." Sheena smiled weakly.

As Sheena went upstairs, Lloyd checked to see if she had gone. "Phew… that was a bit of a close one… I certainly wouldn't want Sheena to think I'm like Zelos…"

After a moment, Lloyd looked at his exsphere. "Mom… I promise I'll release you after this journey." He murmured as he drifted back to sleep.

_

* * *

Meanwhile…Genis decides to go to Presea's room._

Knock Knock

"Come in!" Presea shouted.

Genis entered the room, "h-hey Presea." He blushed.

"Hi Genis." Presea greeted as she finished unpacking her things and sat on her bead, "come sit next to me."

Genis blushed cheerfully, "Ok!"

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, uh… not much. I just wanted to know what you would be planning on doing after go our own ways."

"Well, I'll probably be joining Regal's company, Lezareno. Regal invited me to come work there, and start a new life."

"Oh…" Genis sighed.

There was an awkward silence for a while.

Presea was thinking.

"Hey, Presea... before we go our own separate ways, when Raine and I go on our journey to rid the world of discrimination, I want you to have this, as a sign of our friendship. I want you to always remember me." Genis smiled as he gave her a ribbon.

"Genis… thanks… " Presea said quietly.

"No Problem!" Genis exclaimed happily.

"Genis… I'm sorry…" Presea moped, "I need to think… I need some time alone."

"Oh… well, I'll be in my room." Genis said quietly.

When Genis left her room, she started to think.

_I'm twenty-eight years old… yet I live in a twelve year old body… What should I do… these feelings… do I really feel them? He's only twelve… but I'm twenty-eight, I'm sixteen years older than him… sixteen… sixteen… What do I do…._

She lay in her bed, thinking of Genis, thinking of what her next move should be.

_

* * *

Meanwhile, as Lloyd is sleeping…_

_Lloyd…_

_zZzZz_

_Lloyd…_

"_Wha'?" _Lloyd mumbled.

_Lloyd._

"_Who is it?" _Lloyd asked more alertly.

"_Lloyd… it's your mom." _The voice said.

"_MOM!" _Lloyd exclaimed. _"How…?"_

"_My son… I've finally been able to make some contact with you." _The voice said happily_. "I've watched you all these years, I've seen your life through your eyes… you've been a great son, and a great person."_

"_Mom…you've been suffering all this time…" _Lloyd mumbled.

"_No I haven't, I've been able to watch my very own son grow up like no other mother, granted I haven't been able there in your time of need, nor have I been able to speak to you before this… but either than that… I've been all right." _Anna replied.

"_That's good… I think…" _Lloyd said questioningly.

"_Lloyd, you need not worry about me… I will be fine, just take care of Sheena… and yourself… and everyone." _Anna said.

"_Wait… what's with everyone talking to me about Sheena?" _Lloyd asked confused.

"_Never mind dear, it's not my place to talk to you about that. That aside, I wanted to tell you not to destroy this exsphere, nor remove it. I know you've thought about it a few times my son, but I don't feel empty, I just feel as if I'm a part of your soul, except with my own mind of course, heheh." _Anna replied.

"_Really… it's really okay to have you as that exsphere as long as I live?" _Lloyd asked.

"_Yeah it's fine son. You know… your father is leaving for Derris-Kharlan soon…" _Anna said.

"_Yeah… I'll miss him… you know… I never knew much about you two…" _Lloyd uttered.

"_Heh… you mean he's never told you anything beyond when he had to kill me?" _Lloyd's mom inquired.

"_Uh… yeah… he's pretty sensitive about it I think." _Lloyd respond.

"_He really is a great man… well… let me tell you all about us…"_ Anna continued.

"Lloyd!" Colette shouted.

"Wha'?" Lloyd mumbled, waking up from his dream, "MOM!"

"Lloyd, is everything alright?" Colette asked.

"Mom...? Was I… just dreaming…?" Lloyd murmured.

"Your mom…?" Colette asked.

"Colette… my mom… this exsphere… I think she spoke to me in my dreams…" Lloyd replied.

"Oh that's great Lloyd! I'm so happy for you!" Colette exclaimed happily.

"Yeah…." Lloyd said softly, "Mom… are you real?"

_Lloyd… remember what I said…_

"MOM! MOM?" Lloyd exclaimed.

After a brief moment, Lloyd calmed down, "Colette… I'm going to speak with Kratos, I'll see you later." Lloyd said quietly.

"Uh… okay." Colette replied perplexed.

_

* * *

Kratos' Room_

Knock Knock

"Come in." Kratos said calmly, like his usual self.

Raine stepped in.

"…" Kratos said. (Somehow)

"Sigh You're always so quiet Kratos…" Raine said.

"…"

Raine slapped him,

"HEY WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" Kratos shouted.

Raine laughed, "hah, I got you talking."

Kratos blushed, "hahahaha… congratulations… uhhh…" Kratos looked away.

"What is it with you, always so quiet and all?" Rained inquired.

"…"

"So what are you plans after today?" Raine asked.

"Well… I plan to go back to Derris-Kharlan. As a surviving member of Cruxis, it is my duty to help and lead the half-elves of Derris-Kharlan. Besides, the presence of a half-elf like myself would not help the lives of other half-elves become easier.

"I see…" Raine said softly.

"Is there something on your mind?" Kratos asked.

"No… it's what I expected of a man such as yourself, Kratos." Raine replied.

"Is that a bad thing…?" Kratos inquired weakly.

"No no… your sense of responsibility is one of the many aspects which I admire about you… but… I… I just wish that you could stay a bit longer…" Raine said softly.

"…"

There was a moment of silence. Raine looked at Kratos, and Kratos looked back at her, with a somewhat fond look in his eyes. Raine stepped back.

"What are you thinking about Kratos?" Rained asked.

"It's… nothing." Kratos looked away.

Raine could tell he was not telling her the truth, "Kratos…" She said softly with a worried look on her face.

"It's… you… it's you remind me of Anna…" Kratos said, losing himself in the moment, then suddenly regretting it. _When he met her, Raine, she was nothing else but another person. Days started going by, and his eyes started to wander to Raine sometimes. He did not know why, but he found her interesting, She was sweet, sensitive, smart, mature, responsible, loving... beautiful… this is what intrigued Kratos the most, aside from her hair colour, Raine looked almost exactly like Anna. _

Raine blushed. Her face was all red. What Kratos just said was really sudden. _When she first me Kratos, she was taken aback by him. He was so handsome, built, mature and smart. She had never seen one like him before. She started to grow fond of him ever since they stepped foot in the Triet Ruins and Kratos taught Colette, Genis and Lloyd how to reduce damage done to them. When he betrayed them, she, although furious, knew that somehow he would come back to them, no longer a traitor. When Lloyd had told the group that Kratos had given him a locket containing a picture him, his father and mother, Raine knew that he was going to come back. He had saved her back in Tethe'alla's Tower of Salvation, and ever since then what started as a crush grew into something more intimate._

"Kratos…" Raine said softly, feeling somewhat uneasy at the mention of Anna's name.

_Knock knock_

Kratos and Raine got startled from the knocking.

_Knock knock_

"Coming!" Kratos shouted.

Kratos opened the door to see Lloyd.

"Hey Kratos, can I have a word with you?" Lloyd asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Kratos answered.

"Well- hey why's Raine here?" Lloyd inquired as he spotted Raine.

"Ummm… we were just talking about how you should do a report on this journey. You know, what you learned, what you thought of it, a reflection." Raine said quickly.

Kratos laughed; Lloyd was taken aback.

"WHAT? I SAVE THE WORLD AND THIS IS WHAT I GET!" Lloyd shouted.

"Relax relax, I'm just kidding Lloyd." Raine said.

Lloyd looked annoyed, "bad joke… so why are you here Raine?"

"I just wanted to talk to an adult, about the journey and all, you know." Raine replied as she started to leave the room, "Bye Kratos."

Kratos nodded to Raine, then turned to Lloyd, "Didn't you want to ask me something?"

"Well… I…" Lloyd started.

"…"

"Mom… I think… I think she spoke to me… I was dreaming… I think, and then she spoke to me, but then I woke up, and I heard her voice again…" Lloyd said softly.

"Anna… Lloyd, are you sure your mom really spoke to you?" Kratos asked.

"I don't know dad… that's what I came to ask you about." Lloyd replied.

"…"

"…"

A slew of thoughts entered Kratos mind. The first woman he loved may be somewhat alive. What would he do about Raine? Would he stay on Earth because of Anna? Then what about Derris-Kharlan…?

"Lloyd… what did she say?" Kratos asked.

"Well… she told me that she's not suffering… and that she's felt as if she's another part of my soul… and that she's been seeing my whole life through my eyes for all these years. Then she told me that she's happy with being in the state she's in right now… and then she started talking about you… then I woke up." Lloyd replied.

"…I see…" Kratos mumbled, "Is that it?"

"Yeah…"

"…Dammit… what do I do…?" Kratos thought aloud.

"Dad… what's wrong?" Lloyd asked.

"Lloyd… let's talk about this later… and please, if you somehow get into contact with your mother again, please come right to me." Kratos uttered.

"Uh… Alright…" Lloyd mumbled," Oh… Dad… are you really going back to Derris-Kharlan?"

"You were listening in on the conversation Raine and I were having?" Kratos inquired innocently.

"No… I just figured as much… and mom told me about it too, when I was dreaming, or something like that." Lloyd replied.

"…I suppose… Lloyd… I'm not sure yet… there is a lot to think about." Kratos said, replying to his son's previous question.

"Dad… I'll miss you… you know… you've been really great to me all this time." Lloyd said lovingly.

Kratos smiled back, "I'm not gone yet son, don't get all soapy on me now."

Lloyd gleamed, "So you're not going away!"

"Lloyd… I don't know yet…" Kratos replied.

"I see…" Lloyd mumbled, "well, I'll give you time to think dad…"

"Thanks Lloyd." Kratos uttered.

They smiled at each other and Lloyd took his leave.

* * *

Everyone did their own thing for the next hour or so, having a lot on their mind. 

Lloyd could only think about his mother, while Sheena crossed his mind occasionally. Sheena was thinking about what she would do with Mizuho, mapping out a plan for the ninja clan and the Igaguri style. Of course, Lloyd crossed her mind frequently as well.

Kratos thought about Anna, Raine and Derris-Kharlan and it's people. Raine and Genis were together, talking about their new adventure that awaited them in the form of helping the reputation of half-elves, but both were a bit incoherent in those thoughts. Raine was thinking about Kratos and everything that would follow with being with him… or alone; and Genis was thinking about Presea, their future, their age difference, and their life span.

Regal was thinking about what he could do to help rid the world of exspheres, what he would do with the Lezareno company, where he would live, and of course Alicia. Presea was wondering where she would live, what she should do with her life, and what to do with Genis. She had to admit to herself that she did have a bit of a liking for the kid, but the fact that remained that she was twenty-eight years old. There was so much to think about.

Meanwhile, Colette was thinking about… bunnies, all sorts of bunnies, and dogs too. She could almost remember the name she gave the dog in this city. That aside, she was happy that there was going to be no more trouble in the world, at least, for now, and she was thinking about Phaidra and Frank. She couldn't wait to see them and Iselia again.

_6:30pm_

_Ding Dong_

Zelos entered his mansion. "_Hmmm… where is everyone..._" He thought.

After a good few hours of flirting with his hunnies, he told Sebastian to prepare dinner. It was 6:30pm. He went up to his room telling his butler to call him and everyone else down when dinner was prepared.

* * *

When the dinner call was made, everyone emerged out of their own rooms after a good rest. 

Zelos and Lloyd were the first ones down, eager to fill their stomach with food.

Within 5 minutes, everyone was downstairs.

"So what's for dinner?" Lloyd asked eagerly.

"Steak and Miso Stew for the main course sir." Sebastian answered as he brought in the plates, "and for dessert, Shortcake will be served."

"Mmm, sounds good!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Yes! Food is IN the house!" Zelos yelled.

Everyone dug in.

"Lloyd! Watch your table manners." Raine scolded when Lloyd started using his hands to eat instead of his cutleries.

"Mmmagh, sorry." Lloyd winced.

Everyone laughed softly, except for Zelos.

"Hahahahahahaha, _choke_, hahahahaha." Zelos laughed.

"Don't make me come over there Zelos!." Raine shouted.

"…well sOOOOrry!" Zelos said sarcastically.

Raine rolled her eyes and continued eating.

"This is really good Sebastian, what extra ingredients did you use?" Regal asked.

"Thank you, I used cheese, black satay, radish and tomato for the steak, and I used konjac, chicken and potato for the miso stew." Sebastian answered.

"Ah I see…" Regal said as he wrote the extra ingredients down, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir." Sebastian replied bowing.

Genis poked Regal, "h-hey, mind if I copy those down?"

"Huh? Oh no problem." Regal responded, handing Genis the paper.

"Thanks!" Genis said.

After Genis copied down the extra ingredients, he handed the paper back to Regal and continued eating.

"So Sheena, you've been named the emissary of peace to Sylvarant by the king!" Zelos exclaimed.

"Haha, have I now? From the emissary of death, to the emissary of peace." Sheena laughed.

"A bit ironic isn't it eh." Zelos said.

"Congratulations Sheena!" Colette exclaimed.

"Cool! I guess that means you're moving to Sylvarant for sure huh Sheena." Lloyd beamed.

Sheena smiled, "Yeah!"

Lloyd smiled back, and it was as if they were sharing a private moment, but it didn't last long.

"Hey! Aren't you going to thank me Sheena, now you get to represent Tethe'alla in peace." Zelos exclaimed.

Everyone just gave an empty look at Zelos.

"Okay okay, that's cool, that's cool." Zelos said, flushed.

"Hey, so what's everyone planning to do after today?" Lloyd asked everyone.

Everyone became quiet.

"I'm going to live in Iselia, with my grandmother and father, find a new life, and be the best person I can be!" Colette exclaimed.

Lloyd smiled, "Heh, good for you Colette!"

"Thanks Lloyd!" Colette said.

"I think I'm going to remain right here with my hunnies in Meltokio!" Zelos laughed arrogantly, "But on a more serious side… I think after all this chosen stuff is over, I'll-I mean… Seles and I will be able to live a normal life… and then I'll be able to play with my hunnies without any worries!"

Everyone looked at Zelos.

"Well you know, I just want to live a normal life, here in Meltokio where I've grown up." Zelos said.

"I don't know what I'm going to do… I have no place to live… and Alicia and my Dad are gone…" Presea uttered.

"Presea… you can live in Altamira, I can provide everything you need, and you can start a new life there." Regal offered.

"Hmmm… maybe I'll take you up on that offer, thanks Regal, but there are some things I want to think about first." Presea replied, giving a swift look at Genis, who was already looking at her.

"Alright, well you can answer me whenever you're ready. Anyway, I'll be going back to Altamira, continue work with my company, and see to it that the Toize Valley Mine is taken care of. Also… I guess I should be taking off these shackles…" Regal said.

"Yeah! Take them off already!" Lloyd and Sheena exclaimed.

With that, Regal used all his might and broke free of the shackles by himself.

Everyone sat in awe.

"…Why didn't you do that before?" Lloyd and Sheena asked.

"I already told you guys, anyway, I said I would take them off after all this." Regal replied.

"Well… Genis and I will be going on a journey to help half-elves wherever we can, fighting for our rights. I guess we'll be starting in Iselia, but everyone except the mayor seems to have accepted us." Raine said.

"Are you still going to Derris-Kharlan dad?" Lloyd asked.

"I think so… that is the choice I am leaning toward…" Kratos replied.

"Mmm… well… Sheena and I will be journeying the world to get rid of all the exspheres, starting from Iselia… then after that… we'll live in… uh…" Lloyd turned to Sheena.

"We'll either live in the new Mizuho or Iselia… or something, we haven't really figured much out…" Sheena said, flushed.

"So you guys will be living together eh? Oooooooh!" Zelos teased.

Lloyd was confused and embarrassed, "Wait! What? Huh!"

"Y-you said that we would be living together just now…" Sheena mumbled, looking at the floor with a flustered face.

"Uh… uh… bu… uh… I guess I did huh... well I guess we'll be living in the same village then Sheena! It's settled!" Lloyd exclaimed, trying to find a way out of the situation.

Sheena smiled, _"I guess he doesn't know how to get his feelings across… well I can wait…"_

"Hey Lloyd, you're done!" Colette exclaimed, changing the subject.

"Ohhh! I'm so full!" Lloyd said rubbing his stomach.

Everyone was looking at him puzzled, some with their mouths hanging open. Kratos, Zelos and Regal were half-way done, while Sheena, Colette, Genis and Raine were a quarter way done their dinner.

"You're… done already?" Kratos asked.

"Yeah, heh, I guess I am!" Lloyd said with a sweat drop, "Hey Sebastian, could you bring in the shortcake?"

"Coming, sir." Sebastian replied.

"…uhhh… didn't you say you were full?" Sheena asked.

"Did I? Well I'm still hungry." Lloyd responded smiling.

As Sebastian lay the shortcake down on the table, Lloyd cut in four pieces and took one. It was quite a big cake too. He lay it down on his plate and started eating it quickly.

Everyone was still staring at Lloyd, shocked.

"What? What is it?" Lloyd questioned puzzled.

He received no answer, he only saw shocked faces.

He shrugged and continued eating.

"_How does Lloyd eat so fast…?" _Kratos thought, _"Must be his dwarven up-bringing…"_

After 2 minutes Lloyd had finished the piece of cake, "Okay! NOW I'm full, I think I'm gonna go take a nap." Lloyd yawned.

"Lloyd, it's bad to sleep on a full stomach." Regal said.

"Oh? Well in that case I'll go rest in the living room." Lloyd replied.

Kratos, who was sitting beside him, whispered to him, "Lloyd, it's rude to walk out of a dinner, especially one such as this…"

"Actually, I think I'll just wait here. I'm too tired to move." Lloyd said quickly, smiling at his father.

"Wow." Colette said, "I never knew you ate that fast."

"Heh… well… I guess I was hungry today!" Lloyd answered.

The person closest to finishing, Zelos, was only three quarter ways done his main course.

After dinner, everyone went to the living room to enjoy their final night together. When it reached 10pm, everyone decided to retire to bed, and exchanged good nights.

_

* * *

Lloyd's room_

"_Mom… can you hear me? Can you talk with me again…?"_ Lloyd thought as he stared at his exsphere.

_Knock knock_

"Who is it?" Lloyd asked.

"Open the door and you'll find out." The voice teased.

"Sheena! Come on in!" Lloyd exclaimed happily.

"Hey big guy, how're you doing?" Sheena asked as she came in and closed the door behind her.

"Me…? I'm doing fine… how about you?" Lloyd answered emptily, still staring at his exsphere.

"I'm doing great, actually, I can't wait to start our new journey." Sheena said excitedly, "But ummm… are you sure you're okay? You keep looking at your exsphere…"

"Well… you know how this exsphere is basically my mom's life… anyhow… I thought I heard her voice today… actually, I dreamt of talking to her… She told me how she wasn't suffering as an exsphere… and that she felt like she was a part of my soul, being able to experience and see everything I do." Lloyd said softly.

"Lloyd…" Sheena murmured as she hugged Lloyd, "You know, maybe your mom really talked to you. Remember Alicia?"

"Yeah… I do… hey you're right! Hmmm… well… all I can do is wait Sheena… I want to make sure that I wasn't just hallucinating." Lloyd said half-excitedly.

"Hey… you shouldn't worry about it… I'm sure everything will piece together…" Sheena uttered.

"You're right Sheena… but I talked to my dad about my exsphere earlier today… and I felt that if my mom really did speak to me, and that there was a way that he could speak to Anna one more time… he would stay here on Earth." Lloyd said, "Something like that… I don't know… Do you think I'm being a bit selfish by wanting my dad to stay with me rather than lead the people of Derris-Kharlan?"

"To be honest… yeah… I do think you're being a bit selfish, but I don't blame you. I would want the same thing if I was in your position… I mean… you've only known your real father for a short time, there's a lot to catch up on. But don't worry about it Lloyd, I'm sure that even if Kratos goes back to Derris-Kharlan, he'll be sure to make it back to you someday." Sheena answered softly.

"Mmm… thanks Sheena… I think I'll stop worrying… if mom appears again… then that's great. But right now… I should be enjoying these last moments with my real dad. What happens, happens, and maybe he will find a way back here. Thanks Sheena!" Lloyd said happily as he hugged Sheena.

"L-Lloyd…" Sheena hugged him back lovingly without hesitation.

"HEY LLOYD!" A high voice said as a person who forgot to knock opened the door.

Lloyd and Sheena looked at the person open-eyed and then looked at each other and broke apart. "H-Hey Colette…" Lloyd and Sheena sheepishly welcomed.

Colette stared wide-eyed at them, "Oh! I'm so sorry! Am I interrupting something?"

Lloyd and Sheena looked at each other, and then looked back at Colette.

"Ummm… ummm… not really… I… guess…" Lloyd said, "What's on your mind Colette?"

"Oh… never mind… it seems like you're busy right now… so I guess I'll talk to you later 'kay? It's not important anyway, g'night Lloyd, g'night Sheena!" Colette said as she left, putting on a smile.

_Outside the door_

"…Lloyd and Sheena sure are getting closer…" Colette thought to herself.

_Back inside_

"Well that was weird…" Sheena said.

"Haha… yeah. Well I guess that's Colette for you." Lloyd replied.

"Haha, yeah…" Sheena muttered.

"So… Sheena… I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now… what's your real first name?" Lloyd asked mischievously.

"HUH? M-my f-first name…? W-why do you want to know?" Sheena asked flustered.

"Hmmm? Why's your face all red Sheena?"

"…uh…"

"I'm just curious that's all. When you brought it up, I just kept wondering what your first name was, I guess I just remembered now, heheh." Lloyd smiled.

Sheena gave Lloyd a weird look, "Right… is that it…? Curiousity…?"

"Ummm…" Lloyd paused.

Both Lloyd and Sheena looked at each other for a while, in an awkward silence.

"Haha… I was just teasing…" Sheena said softly, not wanting to make the situation anymore uncomfortable.

"Ha… aha… hahaha… nice one Sheena!" Lloyd laughed awkwardly.

_After a moment of silence._

"The stars are beautiful tonight eh…" Sheena said.

"Yeah..." Lloyd agreed.

"Yeah…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well aren't you going to say anything?" Sheena asked with a boring look on her face.

"Oh? I was supposed to say something?" Lloyd asked empty-headedly.

"…Idiot…" Sheena muttered to herself, "_And it was a perfect set up line too!"_

"I just wanted to enjoy the silence… for once… with you…" Lloyd added.

"OH… oh… heh… yeah… silence is nice sometimes… I guess not everything has to be said huh…" Sheena smiled.

"Yeah… wait… what doesn't have to be said?" Lloyd asked perplexed.

The boring look returned to Sheena's face, _"Idiot…"_

"Sheena?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing, I just wanted your attention." Lloyd smiled.

"You already have it Lloyd." Sheena laughed as she rested her head on Lloyd's shoulder.

_

* * *

At the same time, in Genis' room_

_Knock knock_

Genis opened the door to see it was Presea.

"Presea!" Genis exclaimed.

Presea giggled, "Hey Genis!"

"Well have a seat!" Genis offered excitedly, as they both sat down on the bed.

"Genis…" Presea muttered, "You know this is really weird right?"

"What is?" Genis asked.

"This situation…" Presea responded.

"…"

"Well never mind that… Anyway… I've decided to accept the fact that I am in a twelve year old's body… and I also want you to know that I don't care about our differences, and it's not something to worry about." Presea stated softly.

"Presea…"

"But I've also decided to take Regal up on his offer, and I'm going to start a new life, a life that I can enjoy." Presea added.

"Oh…"

"Haha, don't worry Genis, we'll still see each other. And besides, you have that journey of yours to go on, and who knows where I'll be after your journey." Presea smiled.

"Why don't you come along with us?" Genis asked boldly.

"I'm sorry Genis… but I want to settle down for a while, and live what I've missed for the past sixteen years." Presea stated.

"Awww I should have known better than to ask…" Genis said.

Presea smiled at him, "There's many years ahead of us Genis."

"…Yeah… you're right." Genis agreed, "Hey! You're wearing the ribbon I gave you!"

Suddenly, a wind drifted through the window, and the ribbon spun.

"What…? It spins…?" Presea said surprised.

"Haha, yeah. It makes you look even cuter!" Genis exclaimed.

"After we got Gnome… haha… you remembered…" Presea smiled as she gave Genis a hug, who had become fairly flustered, "Genis… I promise you that this will not be our last night together."

Genis did not know what to say, but he just smiled back. He was happy. In fact, this was probably one of the happiest moments of his life.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Genis." Presea said affectionately as she let go of Genis, "Sweet dreams."

"Uh… Good night Presea! Sweet dreams!" Genis replied.

With that, both went to bed happier than ever, and dreamed good dreams of each other.

_

* * *

At the same time, in Raine's room._

"Raine? Are you there?" A deep, soothing voice asked.

"Kratos?" Raine replied as she stepped out of the shower, "Hold on, I'll be right there."

Raine opened the door for Kratos, with only a towel on. The towel actually wasn't even that big, and Kratos could see some cleavage.

Kratos' face turned red as he stared at Raine, "Uh…"

"Oh… haha, sorry, come in Kratos, make yourself comfortable, I'll be right out." Raine laughed.

Without a word, Kratos found a chair and sat down, waiting for Raine.

After a few minutes had passed, Raine emerged from the washroom with some proper clothing.

"That's more like it Raine…" Kratos muttered sheepishly.

"Heheh… sorry, I didn't want you to have to wait for me to change." Raine giggled.

"I suppose you're right." Kratos stated, "Anyway… I wanted to tell you that I will be taking my leave for Derris-Kharlan tomorrow…"

Raine's smile had disappeared, "You're… going…?"

"I'm not entirely finished… don't write me off yet… even though it is my duty to help and lead the half-elves of Derris-Kharlan, I am sure that I will be able to find and appoint a council to lead her. I want to be here… on Earth, with my son… and with my friends." Kratos finished.

Raine's smile had come back, "That's great news Kratos! …When could we expect you to be back?"

"However long it takes, but I suspect it shouldn't be too long… or at least, I hope." Kratos responded.

"So does Lloyd know about this yet?" Raine asked.

"Haha, he'll have to wait until tomorrow. He's got company in his room." Kratos laughed.

"Is it Sheena?" Raine giggled.

"Well it's about time don't you think?" Kratos chuckled.

"Yeah..." Raine agreed.

"Yeah…"

"…"

"…"

"Don't make me slap you again." Raine said sternly.

"What did I do!" Kratos asked bewildered.

"Being all quiet and mysterious again." She answered.

Kratos couldn't help but smile, but then his face became expressionless again, "Raine… Lloyd told me that Anna spoke to him for the very first time earlier today… He told me it was in his dream… but neither of us know if it was really Anna or a hallucination…"

"…"

"Raine…? Why the sad face?" Kratos asked.

"Oh, I'm not sad, I'm happy!" Raine said, "I'm happy that you and Lloyd finally have Anna back."

"…I'm sorry for bringing it up…" Kratos said.

"You still love her don't you…?" Raine asked softly.

Kratos nodded, "If Anna is really alive in her current state… I'm going to make it my ultimate goal to find a way to bring her back…"

"And I'll help…" Raine said softly.

Kratos looked at Raine affectionately, "Thank you… Raine…"

She smiled, "That's what friends are for."

Small talk ensued for the next half hour, and soon, they both felt sleepy, and a moment of silence followed.

"Well… I'm getting really tired… I think it's time for bed now…" Kratos said softly with a smile on his face, "Good night Raine."

Raine smiled back, "Good night Kratos, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Kratos kissed Raine on the forehead and headed towards his bedroom.

Raine retired to her bed, thinking of Kratos and eventually fell asleep.

When Kratos reached his bedroom, he hoped that there would be something to help guide him through his dilemma, and rested his eyes.

_

* * *

Back in Lloyd's room_

_zZzZzZz_

"_Lloyd… it wasn't a dream…"_ A feint voice said.

_

* * *

Meanwhile, in Zelos' room_

"_NO! Don't leave me! Nooooo! My hunnies!"_ Zelos exclaimed.

"_I'm sorry, but your rights as Chosen are no longer valid… the world has been saved, and there is no more need for a Chosen."_ The King said.

"_Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!" _Zelos cried.

Zelos awoke.

"Oh, it was… just a dream… how weird." Zelos wondered as he fell back to sleep.

* * *

Me: ARGH! Go away Colette! I HATE WRITING PARTS FOR YOU :(  



	3. Goodbyes

**Berserk1: **Hey! Déjà vu indeed! Yup… this is the fanfic from 2 years back, rewritten of course. I added a brief explanation of myself at the start of chapter 1.

**Judaspriest:** Thanks, I'll do my best!

**TrueGamer: **Sure did! Thanks for the review, and hopefully I can make the reread even more enjoyable!

**Chapter 3: Good-byes**

_Lloyd's room_

_Knock knock_

"Guh… wha'?"

_Knock knock_

"Wa..it…" Lloyd groaned.

"Lloyd, wake up, it's time for breakfast-" Raine stopped with a surprised look on her face, "Sheena?"

Lloyd was puzzled, still half-asleep "Sheena?" Then he looked beside him and noticed that Sheena had fallen asleep beside him.

"Huh… stop talking Lloyd, I want to sleep." Sheena mumbled sleepily as she woke up.

"Uh… it's not what it looks like Raine!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"…Right…" Raine started.

"Wha'? WHAT!" Sheena exclaimed as she woke up, and noticed that she had fallen asleep next to Lloyd.

Both Sheena and Lloyd sheepishly looked at Raine, then at each other.

"…Well, make sure you two come down soon, breakfast is almost ready." Raine said as she closed the door, _"Well that was a bit awkward…"_

Both Lloyd and Sheena were red faced, staring blankly at one another.

"…"

"…"

"…Uh…" Lloyd started…

"It was late, we were sleepy and we just fell asleep on the bed." Sheena said quickly.

"…Yeah… yeah… well let's get up and go down for breakfast." Lloyd suggested sheepishly as he stood up and held his hand out too Sheena.

As Sheena and Lloyd walked down the stairs to the dining room, they noticed that everyone's eyes were looking at them.

"What?" Lloyd asked innocently.

Sheena quickly took her hand away from Lloyd's with a flustered face.

Everyone looked back at each other and continued with what they were doing, except Colette, who continued to look at Lloyd; no one noticed though.

Lloyd had already continued down the stairs when Sheena took her hand away._ "Did he even know we were holding hands?"_ Sheena questioned, a bit agitated as she walked to the dining room after Lloyd.

After breakfast, Zelos regrettably suggested that people should start packing their things and everyone agreed and headed up to their room to pack up.

* * *

Within half an hour, everyone was downstairs. 

"So I guess this is it huh guys…" Zelos said.

Lloyd laughed, "We'll see you around Zelos."

Zelos smiled, and everyone took their turns saying bye to him.

"Ok guys, I think it's time to go, we'll drop everyone off at their respective city." Lloyd announced, "First, Altamira!"

Lloyd turned to Zelos, "It's been great having you around Zelos."

Zelos smiled, rarely did anyone say anything good about him, "Thanks bud, now go and rid the world of exspheres, if you ever need anything, I'll be here in Meltokio."

"Wait a minute Zelos, how about Seles? Isn't she still in the SE abbey!" Lloyd inquired.

"DAMN! YOU'RE RIGHT! I GOTTA GET GOING!" Zelos exlaimed. He ran upstairs to prepare for his trip to the SE Abbey.

"Bye Zelos!" Everyone else shouted.

Lloyd laughed, then turned to everyone, "Ok, let's get going to Altamira."

Everyone got their things, took the Rheiards out of their wings packs and flew to Altamira.

_

* * *

At Altamira_

"This is our last day together…" Genis said to Presea.

"Yes, I know…" Presea replied, looking down.

"I'll miss you…" Genis said, as he gave Presea a hug.

Presea smiled and hugged Genis back.

"Good bye Presea…" Genis said softly.

"Bye Genis, I'll see you around." Presea replied affectionately.

"Regal, Presea, it's been a pleasure having you two with us, thanks for your help, and good luck on your project Regal. Hope to see you again some day!" Lloyd said.

"Thanks Lloyd, it's been an honour working with you, good luck on your journey. You've taught me so much, and I wish to work with you again some day." Regal replied, holding out his hand.

Regal and Lloyd shook hands and everyone else said their good-byes, although Presea and Genis were a bit more quiet than usual. Neither knew how long it would be until they saw each other again; but she was satisfied with her decision. The next time they would meet, they would settle everything.

As Regal and Presea left for Lezareno, Lloyd turned back to the others, "Okay, let's get going to the Tower of Salvation."

Everyone nodded, except Raine, who just stood there.

"Is everything alright?" Lloyd asked.

"Hmmm? Oh, it's nothing, let's go." Raine replied.

"_I'm sorry Raine…"_ Kratos said silently.

* * *

During the ride to the tower. Raine was silent, doing her best to hold herself together before Kratos' departure. Kratos noticed this, but he wanted to talk to his son before he left. 

"Lloyd." Kratos started.

"Yeah?" Lloyd replied.

"Don't die… before I do…" Kratos ended.

"…Would you stop saying that dad…?" Lloyd said annoyed.

"…Sorry…"

"It's okay dad… I understand…"

"Son… what are you going to do after your journey?" Kratos inquired.

"…I'm not sure yet dad… but I'm probably going to settle down somewhere and enjoy our new found piece." Lloyd responded.

"Is that it? That's a bit simple…" Kratos said.

"Well I'm a simple-minded person dad!" Lloyd joked.

"…So have you been able to communicate with your mom yet?" Kratos asked.

Raine heard this, and her eyes started to tear up a bit. Noticing this, Kratos suddenly regretted not asking Lloyd the question in a more private place.

"…No… but I'm positive that I wasn't hallucinating… I know I was asleep, but still, don't they say the mind is more vulnerable when it's sleeping?" Lloyd answered.

"…I suppose…" Kratos muttered sadly.

"And what are you going in Derris-Kharlan exactly? I mean, couldn't you find someone to lead it, and then you could come back here?" Lloyd asked innocently.

Kratos gave off a little laugh, "Actually Lloyd, I was just going to tell you that I'm going to try to find a group of people to lead Derris-Kharlan."

"REALLY? THAT'S GREAT DAD!" Lloyd exclaimed, also interrupting his father.

"But it will take a while, they have to people I can trust… and there's still going to be a lot of work to do before I can even think about appointing a new leader. I won't be back that soon…" Kratos added.

"…oh… but you're still going to do your best to come back! And that's GREAT!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Kratos laughed and smiled at his son, who smiled back. Raine couldn't help but smile a bit too.

"You've got a great father Lloyd." Sheena said as she moved her rheaird closer to Lloyd's.

Lloyd smiled, "Yeah… I do, thanks Sheena."

_

* * *

Twenty more minutes passed._

"Looks like we're here…" Raine stated reluctantly.

With that, everyone landed, and Colette, Genis and Sheena said their own good byes to Kratos.

"I'll miss you Kratos…" Raine said softly.

"Be strong Raine… it's not the end…" Kratos responded soothingly.

Raine loved the way Kratos was always calm about everything, along with his deep and soothing voice, "Yes… I'm sorry…"

"It will all be okay Raine…" Kratos muttered as he hugged Raine.

Raine hugged him back lovingly, "Mmm…"

"I'll see you again Raine, I promise." Kratos said as he turned toward Lloyd and the tower.

Raine smiled, "Good-bye Kratos… make sure you don't break that promise hmm."

"Good-bye Raine."

With that Lloyd and Kratos walked toward the tower, leaving a teary-eyed Raine.

"…Are you alright sis?" Genis asked affectionately.

"Yeah… I'll be okay, thanks." Raine answered.

Sheena patted Raine on the back, "Things will work out Raine…"

Raine looked at Sheena with watery eyes, "T-thanks Sheena… hopefully they do…" She said as she hugged Sheena.

A/N: If Zelos were here, he'd say something along the lines of, "THAT'S HOT! Nothing like two hot babes touching each other all over!" But he's not here is he? He's off finding Seles at SE abbey! HAHA! He missed out. Loser. >>

* * *

_At the portal to Derris-Kharlan_

"So this is it huh…" Lloyd said softly

"Yes, as one the only remaining leader of Cruxis, it is my duty to lead and guide the people." Kratos replied.

"Yeah I know, you already told me." Lloyd said, "I'll miss you… Dad…"

Kratos smiled at Lloyd, "Just remember… don't die before I do."

Lloyd stared at Kratos for a bit, then smiled, knowing that Kratos said it with loving intentions.

Lloyd gave his dad one final hug, and Kratos returned it. In the beginning, Kratos was like his mentor, but now, he was his dad as well. Lloyd knew that Kratos had a duty, but he did not want lose another parent.

Kratos looked down at Lloyd, he had grown so much, both physically and mentally. He was truly proud of his son.

Kratos let go of Lloyd, "Lloyd, can you please use the eternal sword to send me to Derris-Kharlan?"

"…Alright dad…" Lloyd answered softly, "One more thing, promise you'll come back?"

Kratos laughed, "I promise Lloyd… my son. Good bye for now."

"Bye dad… " Lloyd said as he used the power of the eternal sword to send Kratos back to Derris-Kharlan.

With that, Lloyd returned to the group.

"He's gone…" Lloyd announced softly.

"Lloyd…are you ok?" Colette and Sheena asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Lloyd nodded.

Colette and Sheena both had worried looks on their faces.

"Well if you need anything, don't hesitate to speak to us." Sheena said.

"Thanks Sheena." Lloyd said quietly.

"Anyway, let's head to Mizuho." Lloyd said.

With that, everyone hopped on to the rheairds, heading to Mizuho.

As Kratos went up to Derris-Kharlan, he said softly, "_Don't die before I do, Lloyd… My son_."

_

* * *

At Mizuho_

"Hey everyone!" Sheena cried out.

"Sheena! You're back! Welcome!" Orochi exclaimed as he ran up to briefly hug Sheena.

Everyone else in the village greeted Sheena and congratulated her with her success.

Lloyd smiled, he was happy for Sheena; she was finally respected in her village.

"Lloyd. Genis, Colette and I are going off to the flower field." Raine said as they left for the flower grove.

"Okay, we'll be at the chief's house." Lloyd replied.

_

* * *

Chief's house_

"Hey Grandfather!" Sheena exclaimed gleefully.

"Sheena! You're back, Congratulations." Her Grandfather grinned. "Oh, I see you're going to tell Lloyd your full name."

Sheena blushed deeply, "Grandfather!"

Lloyd looked puzzled.

Igaguri laughed, "So what is going to be your first move as the new chief?"

"Well, I've been appointed as the emissary of peace by the king… and along with some other reasons, I plan for the people of Mizuho to move to Sylvarant…" Sheena said.

"I see… what are those other reasons?" Igaguri asked.

"Well I think most people want to move out of Tethe'alla, grandfather, hasn't this been discussed before?" Sheena replied.

"Oh… now that I think about it, yes, Tiga did bring that up. So when and where are we going to move?"

"Sometime this week… I believe the forest near Iselia would be a good place to reside." Sheena responded as she turned to Lloyd, "Lloyd, can you get the map?"

"Sure," Lloyd said happily as he dug in his wing pack for the map of Sylvarant.

"Here grandfather." Sheena stated as she pointed out the location, "And you can keep it, we've travelled around Sylvarant enough to memorize everything; or, at least I've memorized everything."

"Hey!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Both Sheena and her grandfather gave a small laugh.

"Alright Sheena, sounds like a plan." Igaguri said.

"But… do you think it would be okay if you and Tiga organize everything? I… have another commitment…" Sheena uttered sheepishly, slowly looking at Lloyd.

Igaguri laughed, "…I understand… so what's this other commitment of yours?"

"Well, Lloyd and I are going on a journey to destroy all the exspheres, and we want to get started as soon as possible." Sheena responded.

"Yup!" Lloyd added.

"I see, that's very noble of you two, and I wish you all the best." Igaguri said as he walked toward a cabinet, "Here Sheena, I want you to have these."

Sheena smiled, "Guardian seals… thank you grandfather."

"I do what I can." Igaguri smiled back, "So what do you plan to do afterwards?"

"…I'm going to come back to the new Mizuho and be the best chief I can be!" Sheena exclaimed.

"That's good to hear Sheena. We'll be waiting for you." Igaguri said.

_Silence ensued._

"…So are you leaving right now?" Igaguri asked.

"Well… we're leaving soon, yeah." Sheena answered.

"Alright then, I won't hold you any longer…" Igaguri said.

"Good-bye grandfather!"

"Good-bye Mr. Fujibayashi!"

"Good-bye Sheena, Lloyd." Igaguri said as Sheena and Lloyd stepped out.

_Outside_

"You were a bit quiet in there Lloyd…" Sheena said quietly.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, hehe…" Lloyd replied.

"S-so you'll be with me right? After our journey?" Sheena asked boldly.

"Huh?" Lloyd asked puzzled.

"Y-you said remember… that… you want to be with… me…" Sheena responded sheepishly.

"Hehe yeah… I'm sorry Sheena, it's just that my dad just left… and yeah… I'm pretty bummed out. I know there's not much to think about anymore… all the questions have been answered… I'm sorry…" Lloyd said sadly.

"Oh… I'm sorry Lloyd… I'm so sorry…" Sheena replied sympathetically.

"It's alright Sheena… he'll be back soon." Lloyd smiled.

Sheena lovingly looked at Lloyd for a while, and then she hugged him.

"Sheena…" Lloyd said affectionately as he hugged back.

"Come, let's go get the others." Sheena said, as her hand found Lloyd's hand.

_

* * *

In the flower field_

"Oh look at all these pretty flowers!" Colette exclaimed delightfully as she danced in the flowers.

"Be careful Colette!" Raine cautioned.

"I wi-AH!" Colette screamed as she tripped.

Genis and Raine sighed and went over to Colette.

"Are you alright Colette?" Genis asked.

Colette got up, dusted herself and smiled, "Yeah I'm fine, silly me."

Genis and Raine sighed.

"Hey guys! I think it's time we headed back to Sylvarant." Lloyd announced.

"Alright then… COLETTE! It's time to go!" Raine shouted.

"Alright! Coming!" Colette shouted back as she tripped and fell.

Everyone sighed, and with that, the group set out to Iselia.

_

* * *

At Iselia_

"Well, looks like we are finally back home." Lloyd said.

Everyone in the village congratulated the five on their success.

A/N: Yes, the villagers know Sheena. Somehow.

"So, this is goodbye for now." Lloyd said.

"Yeah, good luck on your journey Lloyd, Sheena." Raine said.

"Yeah, good luck." Genis smiled.

Colette smiled at Lloyd and Sheena, "Have fun you two."

"Thanks you guys." Lloyd and Sheena said.

"Colette, you go and have fun. You deserve it!" Lloyd smiled, "Genis, Raine, good luck to you on your journey too."

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

"Thanks Lloyd."

"See you all soon!" Everyone shouted.

The five split up, Lloyd and Sheena went to Dirk's, Raine and Genis went to their burnt home and Colette went back to her house.

_

* * *

Colette's house_

"Congratulations Colette." Phaidra said happily, "it's good to have you back."

"Congratulations Colette!" Frank shouted out.

"Thanks grandmother, thanks father! It's great to be back!" Colette exclaimed.

"So tell me about your journey!" Phaidra insisted enthusiastically.

"Okay!" Colette started as the told Phaidra and Frank all about her journey.

_

* * *

Meanwhile at Raine and Genis' house_

"Hmm… our house seems to still have been burnt out. We should re-build it soon." Raine suggested.

"Yea, we should, I'll ask Lloyd and Sheena if they could help us." Genis replied.

Raine and Genis set out for Dirk's after going around the village to see how things were. There appeared to be no discrimination in Iselia, except from the ex-mayor, who had been replaced by Lennox's father, Vernon.

* * *

3 hours had passed after Colette had started her story. 

"So what's new grandmother?" Colette asked after telling all about her story.

"Well we re-built most of the houses as you could see, and we have a new teacher, and a new mayor." Phaidra replied.

"And it just so happens that they're father and son, Vernon being the father, and Lennox being the son." Frank added.

"Oh? Cool! How long have they been here in Iselia?" Colette inquired.

"2-3 months now, they're great people. Actually, you should go get to know them. Vernon is probably in his office right now, but Lennox should be at home. They live just 2 houses down from here." Phaidra responded.

"Cool! I think I'll go meet them as soon as I'm done unpacking." Colette said happily.

As soon as she unpacked her things, she decided to go see Lennox.

_

* * *

knock knock_

The door opened, and a 19 year old man, standing six feet tall, with blonde hair greeted her.

"Oh hi there, you must be Colette; your grandmother has talked to me about you. Want to come in?" Lennox said.

"Sure!" Colette nodded, "And your name is Lennox?"

Lennox nodded, and with that, they started talked to each other and introduced each other.

"HEY MOTHER! WHERE'S MY FLUTE!" A voice shouted.

"Oh yeah, and I have a sister, her name is Tila." Lennox said.

"Oh, cool!" Colette exclaimed.

"I PUT IT IN THE DRAWER TO THE LEFT OF YOUR BED!" Lila, their mother shouted back.

"…And that voice you just heard was my mother, Lila. She's a scholar, just like me. Oh, and my dad, Vernon, is the new mayor of the town. Want to meet them?" Lennox asked.

"Sure." Colette smiled.

"I'll go get them, oh, and my dad doesn't normally get home until nightfall; oh, and you're welcome to stay for dinner." Lennox said cheerfully as he went upstairs to get his mother and sister.

Colette waited on the couch.

2 minutes later, Lennox came back down with his sister and mother.

"Tila, this is Colette, Colette, this is Tila." Lennox said.

"Hey!" Colette greeted.

"Hi there!" Tila exclaimed in a cheerful voice.

Lennox smiled, "Mother, this is Colette, Colette, this is Lila."

"Hello, nice to meet you Colette." Lila greeted.

"Hi Mrs…" Colette trailed off.

Lila laughed, "our last name is Lyns."

Colette blushed, "Hi Mrs. Lyns."

The four talked until it was time that Colette had to go home.

"Tomorrow's school." Lennox said.

"See ya at school Colette." Tila added.

"Okay!" Colette replied cheerfully, "Bye! See you at school too Tila!"

"Bye!"

"Bye Colette!"

"Bye!"

_

* * *

(BAM! NIGHT TIME) At Dirk's…_

"I'm home mom…" Lloyd said softly.

"Whine" Noishe whined, licking Lloyd's face.

"Hey Noishe! How're you?" Lloyd exclaimed as he petted Noishe.

"Hey Noise!" Sheena said.

"Whine" Noishe whined again as it went back to its pen.

As Lloyd and Sheena went up to Anna's grave, Dirk saw and joined them.

"Lloyd, you're back, so how was it, the trip and all?" Dirk asked.

Lloyd turned around, "Hey dad, it was great-"

Dirk suddenly realized that he was holding hands with Sheena, "O' is this your girlfriend? She's a fine lass." Dirk chuckled.

Sheena and Lloyd blushed madly, and then Lloyd tried to pull his hand away as he responded, but Sheena held on to it, "Wha…?" Lloyd asked quietly as he stopped trying to pull his hand away, "Uh…"

Dirk laughed, "Well you don't have to answer if you don't want to. So where's Kratos?"

Lloyd's sad expression returned, "he… he went back to Derris-Kharlan…"

"Oh… I'm sorry Lloyd." Dirk said as he regretted asking the question.

"Nah… it's alright dad, besides, I've got already got one here." Lloyd said with a smile.

Sheena couldn't help but smile at Lloyd, _"That's what I love so much about you Lloyd… you're always so strong…"_

Dirk smiled, "Right, well I'll leave ya two alone, I'll be in the house preparing dinner."

"Alright." Lloyd said.

When Dirk went back in, Lloyd looked at his exsphere, "Mom… can you hear me?"

"…"

"…"

"…I guess not…" Lloyd sighed.

"There there Lloyd…" Sheena said, as she hugged Lloyd.

"Thanks Sheena…" Lloyd uttered softly as he hugged her back.

"Here Lloyd, come sit with me." Sheena said as she sat down on a bench.

"Okay…" Lloyd mumbled as he sat down beside Sheena.

After a few seconds of silence, Sheena grabbed Lloyd's hand and decided to say something, "The stars are beautiful tonight aren't they…"

"Hehe… yeah… they are…" Lloyd agreed.

"Lloyd…?" Sheena started.

"Yeah?"

"I… I… uh…" Sheena stuttered embarrassingly as she tried to get her words out, "I want to know… I… uh…"

_Garble garble _Went Lloyd's stomach as Sheena stuttered, "Uh… hehe" Lloyd laughed shyly.

"/././"

A/N: That's Sheena being embarrassed, like in the game (I have to use the periods because Document Manager doesn't preserve 3 slashes in a row).

"DINNER!" Dirk shouted just a few seconds later.

Lloyd widened his eyes, "Food! Uh… Sheena, I'm sort of hungry, can this wait until later?"

"Hehe… s-sure Lloyd, let's go." Sheena smiled uncomfortably as she nodded, "_I guess it'll have to wait until tonight… but that's okay, I have a long time with Lloyd."_

After dinner, there was a knock on the door.

Lloyd and Sheena went to the door, and there were Raine and Genis.

"Hey, we were wondering if you could help in re-building our home before you left on your journey." Raine said.

"Is that ok with you Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"Yea!" Sheena replied.

"Alright then, let's get going." Lloyd said.

"Thanks!" Genis exclaimed happily.

_

* * *

At Genis and Raine's house_

"So what do you need help with?" Lloyd asked.

"Well our house's wood is burnt, and we need some new wood to replace some lost pieces." Raine replied.

"Well I could summon Gnome." Sheena suggested.

"Great Idea." Lloyd smiled.

"I call upon the servant of mother Earth, I summon thee, come! GNOME!" Sheena chanted.

"Hey hey hey! What can I do ya for?" Gnome giggled.

"Gnome, please revive the wood of this house." Sheena ordered.

"Sure thing." Gnome chuckled as he revived the wood and disappeared.

Before them, was Raine's house, looking brand new.

"Heh, that was easier than I thought…" Raine said sheepishly.

Genis, Lloyd and Sheena laughed.

"Well it's time Sheena and I head back." Lloyd said.

The four exchanged good-byes.

_

* * *

At Dirk's_

After a few hours of conversation and story-telling with Dirk, Lloyd and Sheena went upstairs.

"That was fun!" Lloyd beamed.

"Hehe, it sure was!" Sheena said happily.

"…"

"…"

"Lloyd… uh… continuing from where I left of before dinner. I really want to know… um…" Suddenly, Lloyd grabbed Sheena's hand, "Lloyd!" Sheena exclaimed lustfully.

Lloyd smiled, "You don't have to say anything Sheena…"

As Lloyd said this, Sheena's smile widened.

"Of course you can have the bed! I'll sleep on the floor." Lloyd said cheerfully.

"Eh…" Sheena mumbled as she gave Lloyd a boring stare.

"What? You don't want the bed?" Lloyd asked.

"IDIOT!" Sheena shouted out loudly.

"Wha'… what? What did I do?" Lloyd asked hesitantly.

"IS EVERYTHING OKAY UP THERE?" Dirk shouted.

"Yes Mr. Irving! Everything's fine!" Sheena shouted back, "Let's go to bed Lloyd… I'm feeling pretty tired…"

"Are… you sure?" Lloyd asked, "You seemed pretty energetic just now…"

"That was just now…" Sheena said angrily.

"Are you okay Sheena?" Lloyd asked worriedly.

"Yeah… yeah… I'm okay… I'm sorry Lloyd…" Sheena said softly as she put her head on his chest.

Lloyd stroked her hair affectionately, "…Well… have a good night Sheena… sweet dreams."

Suddenly, Sheena felt better, "Thanks Lloyd… you have a good night too, sweet dreams!"

As Lloyd raised her head from his chest, he realized that they're heads were really close together; and so did Sheena.

"Uh…" Lloyd mumbled half scared, half embarrassed. Both of their faces had turned bright red, "GOOD NIGHT SHEENA!"

Sheena almost fell forward as Lloyd broke away and found a spot on the floor to sleep. Sheena had leaned forward a bit, thinking that they would finally have had their first kiss.

"Lloyd…?" Sheena said softly.

Lloyd intentionally snored, his heart beating very fast.

"…" Sheena could tell that Lloyd was faking his sleep and smiled, "Good night Lloyd…"

Within 5 minutes, he was actually asleep.

"_Oh Lloyd… don't be so embarrassed… you weren't embarrassed before…"_ Sheena sighed, "_How long is it going to take for him to finally say something? …Well… at least I know that it's going to be magical when it happens… hehe… wait…"_ Sheena knew that Lloyd was a bit dumb sometimes, _"Or at least I hope…" _

With those thoughts, she drifted to sleep.

* * *

Me: LOL LLOYD! YOU'RE SO OBLIVIOUS! XD You could have hit that!  
Lloyd: What? Hit what? And why would I hit anything?  
Me: XD  
What's going to happen next chapter? Perhaps Lloyd will finally confess his feelings to Sheena! Maybe not. NEXT TIME, **SETTING OUT!**


	4. Setting Out

**Chapter 4: Setting out**

_Next morning._

Sheena woke up first, as usual.

"_Yawn, _Morning Lloyd_"_, Sheena yawned.

_zZzZzZz_

"I guess… it's still early, hehe." Sheena laughed.

_zZzZzZz_

"Well thanks for letting me have the bed Lloyd…" Sheena said softly as she slowly picked Lloyd up and put him onto the bed, "_Whoa… he's gotten heavier!_"

_zZzZzZ_

Sheena smiled. "Still sound asleep… well I may as well prepare breakfast for these guys."

"…_What's that smell?"_ Sheena thought as she smelt food coming from the kitchen.

"Oh good morning Sheena." Dirk said happily.

"Oh… Good morning. Are you usually up this early?" She asked.

"Yup, 7AM, bright and early." Dirk replied.

"I see… hey what are you cooking there?" Sheena asked.

"Bacon and eggs." Dirk answered.

"Smells good!" Sheena said excitedly.

Dirk laughed, "Breakfast will be ready in about thirty minutes."

A/N: I know it usually doesn't take thirty minutes for that, but just for script sake, Dirk takes extra long to cook.

"Mmm… alright, well in that case, I'm going to go take a shower." Sheena said.

"Okay."

_

* * *

Upstairs_

Sheena giggled, "Lloyd's still sleeping so soundly… Hmm… I need to wash my clothes too… Where does he put all his clothing…?"

After a few minutes of poking around Lloyd's room, Sheena finally found a nice shirt and shorts and put them on the bed. With that, she undressed and entered the shower.

_15 minutes later._

"………_sigh_… Time to get up Lloyd." Lloyd told himself as laid on the bed half-asleep.

"Ah… that was refreshing." Sheena said aloud as she stepped out of the shower, and into the room.

As she took her towel off to put on her panties, Lloyd turned around, more awake than he was a few seconds ago. Sheena paused and stared at Lloyd in embarrassment.

"…"

"…"

"/"

"Sheena?" Lloyd asked softly as his eyes started to open to see that Sheena barely only had her panties on, "WHOA! SHEENA!" He shouted as he jumped up with his eyes checking again to see if Sheena really had no clothes on.

"/"

"/"

"WELL STOP LOOKING YOU PERVERT!" Sheena shouted as she slapped Lloyd.

"OW! SHEENA! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Lloyd shouted back as he continued to look at Sheena.

"THEN WHY ARE YOU STILL LOOKING?" Sheena exclaimed.

"OH! Sorry! Hehe…" Lloyd apologized red-faced as he scrambled to look in the opposite direction.

Embarrassed, Sheena quietly and quickly put on the shirt and shorts.

"…Are you done Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah…" Said Sheena disgruntled.

"I'm sorry for looking… it was just… well it was sort of a pleasant view!" Lloyd said smiling as he turned around, scratching the back of his head.

"Eh… you're becoming just like Zelos." Sheena said coldly.

"W-W-WHAT! N-NO I'M NOT! Er…" Lloyd stuttered as he tried to defend himself.

"…Well thanks I suppose… sorry for the slap…" Sheena said softly.

"…"

"…"

"BREAKFAST IS READY!" Dirk shouted.

_

* * *

At the breakfast table_

"Morning dad." Lloyd said, "Looks good."

"Yeah…" Sheena agreed softly.

"Thanks." Dirk replied.

"…"

"…"

"You two are awfully quiet today." Dirk stated after a few moment of silence.

Both Lloyd's and Sheena's face turned red.

"Did something happen?" Dirk asked innocently.

Lloyd started to smile a bit embarrassingly.

_SLAP_

"OW! SHEENA! THAT HURTS!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Don't smile." Sheena told Lloyd softly, "Just eat."

"I thought you and I apologized about that!" Lloyd whispered back to her.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Well this is a bit weird… I guess I'll leave you two to talk." Dirk said uncomfortably as he finished up his food.

"…"

"…"

"I'm sorry Lloyd… for the slap, again." Sheena said softly.

"I… guess I deserved it… I… I… I guess curiosity got the better of me…" Lloyd replied embarrassingly.

"Don't be like Zelos." Sheena stated coldly.

"!"

"What?" Sheena asked him boringly.

"Ah nothing…" Lloyd answered.

"..."

"_Maybe if I compliment her I'll make her happy again…_" Lloyd thought, as he started to open his mouth.

"Just shut up about it Lloyd. I forgive you, just don't bring it up again." Sheena said affectionately.

"Uh… okay." Lloyd said, feeling a bit rejected.

Within a minute, both of them finished their breakfast and cleaned up.

"Alright, should we get prepared?" Sheena asked.

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Lloyd replied, "Let's go get our things."

_

* * *

Upstairs_

"Uh… Sheena…" Lloyd started.

"Hmmm?"

"I still have to shower…" Lloyd said uncomfortably.

"Oh yeah… that reminds me, we should take the opportunity to wash our clothes." Sheena stated.

"So I guess we're going to stay a bit longer?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah I guess so. Now give me your clothes. I'm gonna wash them." Sheena said.

Lloyd's face went red, "Uh… now?"

"What's the matter? You saw ME naked." Sheena said with a boring stare.

Lloyd protested, "B-but you're beautiful! And you have a great body!"

Sheena's face also went red, "…Y-you really think so? Thanks!"

Lloyd smiled at her as he headed toward the shower.

"Hey where do you think you're going? It's not like you don't have a great body- _OOPS!_" Sheena said accidentally, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Ah… thanks… h-hehe." Lloyd stuttered embarrassingly.

"…"

"Hey wait a minute! YOU'VE SEEN ME NAKED!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"N-n-no! NO! That's not what I meant! Ahhh!" Sheena shouted, "ARGH! Just give me your clothes, what's so hard about that? You've made this such a stupid conversation."

Scared, Lloyd quickly went into the bathroom and tossed his clothes out so that Sheena wouldn't be able to see him.

After 10 minutes went by, Lloyd finished his shower.

"Ah… refreshing… now where did I put my towel? …Huh? It's not there! Where are my clothes!" Lloyd asked himself frantically. Slowly, Lloyd opened the door to see if Sheena was still there. "_Thank goodness, she must be outside cleaning the clothes. Hehe_…" He thought as he quickly opened the door to get his clothes.

_Door opens_

Lloyd heard the door open and slowly turned around, still naked, "…Eh… Sheena? AH! SHEENA!"

"AH! LLOYD!" Sheena exclaimed as she closed the door quickly.

Flustered, Lloyd quickly put on some clothes.

"Y-you can come in now Sheena!" Lloyd said as Sheena slowly opened the door to see if Lloyd had dressed.

"…"

"…"

"…I just forgot one of my kimonos…" Sheena said, flushed, as she quickly grabbed her kimono and headed back out.

"Now I know how she feels…" Lloyd sighed as he slowly walked down to join Sheena.

_

* * *

In the yard_

"H-hey Sheena…" Lloyd said flustered.

"Hi." Sheena replied quickly.

"Do you need help?" Lloyd asked.

"No." Sheena said quickly.

"Oh common Sheena… don't be like that. Okay we both saw each other, that just means there's no more secrets between us!" Lloyd exclaimed dumbly.

Sheena went quiet for a while.

"Well help me hang these clothes, don't just sit there." Sheena said angrily.

"Hey, why are YOU mad? You were the one that saw ME naked just now. You already forgave me for the incident earlier this morning." Lloyd said defensively.

"No more secrets…?" Sheena asked softly.

"Sheena…? What's with the tone change?" Lloyd replied sympathetically.

"Umm… hehe, it can wait until later." Sheena smiled.

"…Weirdo…" Lloyd said softly as they hung the clothes.

After they had finished hanging their clothes, they both sat down on a bench.

"So how long are they going to take to dry?" Lloyd asked.

"About 2 hours should be fine." Sheena answered, "It's pretty hot today."

"Ah… so uh… what were you mumbling about secrets earlier?" Lloyd inquired.

"Uh! Uh…" Sheena's face turned red, "_Oh how do I go about doing this…_ Umm… h-how do you feel about me Lloyd?"

"Huh?" Lloyd paused as beads of sweat ran down his head.

"You heard me…" Sheena said softly.

"Wha'… well… how do YOU feel about ME?" Lloyd asked boldly.

"Hey I asked you first!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Ladies first!" Lloyd laughed.

"…" Sheena went quiet.

"…Sheena…" Lloyd smiled affectionately, "I don't think anything has to be said."

"Uh… _whoa that was a really mature way of putting it… but he still hasn't said anything straight out!_ Yeah… I guess not…" Sheena said as she smiled lovingly at Lloyd.

"…"

"…"

Suddenly, they realized that they were right next to each other, and that their faces were almost touching.

"Uh…" Lloyd mumbled, startled.

"Lloyd…" Sheena said lustfully as she closed her eyes and moved her head towards Lloyd.

_Whine_

"Oh hey Noishe!" Lloyd exclaimed as Sheena fell over.

"…"

"Sheena! A-Are you okay?" Lloyd asked perplexed as he helped Sheena up.

"…Idiot." Sheena mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

_Whine_

Lloyd laughed, "Are you hungry Noishe?"

Noishe nodded, _Whine._

"Wanna come Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"Huh?"

"Feed Noishe."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." Sheena stuttered, _"Argh! Stupid, STUPID Lloyd!"_

* * *

After they were done feeding Noishe, Sheena checked on the clothes. 

"Hey Lloyd! They're almost dry!" Sheena shouted.

"Okay cool! Should we start packing up then?" Lloyd asked.

"Sure! Let's go." Sheena responded as their hands found each other, _"hehe… I love it when Lloyd is this romantic…"_

* * *

After they had finished packing, the clothes were dried enough to be packed away into the wing pack, so they packed their clothes. With that, they said their good-byes to Dirk, picked up Noishe and headed off. 

_Whine, _Noishe whined as they crossed the small bridge.

"So where to?" Sheena asked.

"To the Iselia human ranch!" Lloyd exclaimed excitedly as he did a fist pump.

"Alright, let's go!" Sheena smiled as she grabbed Lloyd's hand.

"Sheena…"

"Yes Lloyd?"

"N-nothing." Lloyd smiled.

"Okay then." Sheena responded, as she hid her smile from Lloyd.

With that, Lloyd and Sheena started their new journey with a smile on their faces, holding hands, with Noishe following right behind.

* * *

Me: I think I might have to change the rating to M pretty soon if you keep this up you two. >.>  
Lloyd: WHAT? BLAME SHEENA NOT ME!  
Sheena: WHAT WAS THAT LLOYD!  
Lloyd: Hey wait a minute, this is all your fault! You're the one writing this OOC crap! I am DEFINITELY not like Zelos.  
Sheena: YEAH! IT'S YOUR FAULT!  
Me: _'runs'_  
Lloyd and Sheena finally set out on their new adventure! What lies ahead? Will Lloyd become more perverted?  
Lloyd: I'M NOT PERVERTED! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!  
Next time, **The Iselia Human Ranch!**


	5. The Iselia Human Ranch

**Berserk1: **Thanks for you comments! Don't worry, I'll be updating often enough.

**Shikarmaru-Nara2: **Hehe, you've got that right, but that's why we all love Lloyd:D (I think

**TrueGamer:** Thanks 

**Chapter 5: The Iselia Human Ranch**

Walking hand in hand, Lloyd and Sheena headed towards the Iselia human ranch. Along the way, they encountered a few wolves, bees and hares, but they were no match for them.

"Ah this is boring, I remember when these creatures were actually a challenge, now their like ants!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Sheena laughed, "Do you ALWAYS get bored this easily? We just started!"

"Hey wait a minute! I just realized that Noishe is still following us!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Hmmm… you're right, I forgot that he's supposed to be scared of monsters." Sheena said.

"You mean he USED to be scared of monsters!" Lloyd exclaimed happily, "Look! I think he's become more courageous!"

Sheena laughed, "Well, time will tell Lloyd. Don't get so excited yet."

"Yeah yeah… Hey we're almost there! I can see the ranch." Lloyd said.

"Alright then, let's get moving." Sheena replied.

Soon, there in front of them was the Iselia Human Ranch. This brought some bad memories back. This was the place where he met Marble; he remembered that he had killed her by complete accident while defending Genis and himself.

"Lloyd? Are you… okay?" Sheena asked concerned.

"This is where I met Marble… I took an innocent person's life…" Lloyd trailed off.

Sheena gave him a hug, "Lloyd, I'm sorry… But it wasn't your fault, it was those damn desians!"

"Yeah… I know… I guess what's been done can't be undone..." Lloyd said slowly, as he took Sheena's hand and walked inside the ranch.

_Whine_

"Oh… I guess you're staying out here then…" Lloyd said disappointedly.

_Whine_

"Haha… I knew it." Sheena said cheekily.

"Well you'll see, I have faith in Noishe! After all, he DOES become a human that defeats evil!" Lloyd replied.

Sheena laughed, "I guess you're right, c'mon, let's go."

To their surprise, when they stepped inside the ranch, the lights were still on; everything was operational.

"Hmmm… why would this ranch still have power?" Lloyd asked himself out loud.

Sheena looked at him and shrugged stupidly.

"I don't like the feeling this place is giving me, I feel like there's something out there watching us." Lloyd said.

"…yeah… I'm feeling that too…" Sheena said.

They were right, a set of eyes were watching Lloyd and Sheena's every move.

Faintly remembering the ranch, Lloyd quickly found the area where all the exspheres were.

There in the room, were scores of exspheres.

"DAMN! Look at all these exspheres!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Sheena was in shock, "So… many exspheres…"

Neither Lloyd nor Sheena could stand the sight of so many exspheres.

Lloyd walked up to them, "I'm sorry for making all of you wait..."

"DEMONIC CHAOS! CYCLONE SEAL!" Lloyd and Sheena shouted.

_The exspheres shatter_

Lloyd and Sheena looked around the room; there were no more exspheres.

"Common Sheena, let's get out of here." Lloyd said quietly.

"Ok." Sheena replied.

"Well that was easy enough…" Lloyd said doubtfully.

"Yeah… it was… One more thing. I call upon the envoy from the dark abyss. I summon thee, come! Shadow!" Sheena chanted.

Shadow stood there swaying, like he always did.

"Shadow, fill this ranch with darkness." Sheena ordered.

Not wasting any words, Shadow shrouded the entire ranch in darkness and disappeared.

"I call upon the hammer of godly thunder! I summon thee...come! Volt!"" Sheena chanted.

"…"

"Volt, take away the power from this ranch." Sheena commanded.

"…" The ranch lost all power, and then Volt disappeared.

"What was that for?" Lloyd inquired.

"I wanted to make sure that this ranch would no longer be able to operate. I didn't like the fact that everything was still operational, and that we had such an easy time, I mean, I thought there would have been SOME kind of resistance if the lights were on." Sheena replied.

"Yeah, you're right…" Lloyd agreed.

"So where should we go now?" Sheena asked as they stepped back into the forest.

"Well… I sort of want to head back to Iselia. Just to check on how everything's going for everyone you know, one final time before we come back; and I also want to borrow the professor's monster list." Lloyd replied.

"Ah that's smart! …I wanna go too. I want to ask Raine about something." Sheena said suspiciously.

"…It's good to see you two finally getting close to each other." Lloyd said happily.

"Hehe… y-yeah… I suppose so." Sheena said, not sure if Lloyd's words had a perverted meaning.

"Alright! To Iselia!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Okay!"

_Whine_

_

* * *

At the same time_

"!" ? exclaimed, "No! The ranch! Dammit, I have to warn Lord Lefance at once!"

? climbed down the trees after Lloyd and Sheena were no where in sight, and hopped on his Rheiard, headed for a secret underground base.

_

* * *

Iselia_

Noishe waited at the front gate, remembering that he was not allowed inside Iselia.

"Alright then, let's go Genis' and Raine's!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"You two! Stop!" A voice shouted.

"Who? Yuan? What're you doing here?" Sheena asked.

"I came to collect the rheairds. First of all, I doubt you guys need them now that everything is over; and second, we're improving the design of our rheairds, and we're using our current models as the base." Yuan stated.

"Uh… actually… Lloyd and I are going on a journey together… and…" Sheena started.

"Perfect, a romantic getaway, you guys can use Noishe!" Yuan exclaimed sarcastically.

"Er…" Sheena and Lloyd both blushed.

Yuan laughed, "Now can I have those rheairds back?"

"Do we really need them Lloyd?" Sheena whispered.

"I guess not…" Lloyd replied.

"Thanks!" Yuan said as Lloyd and Sheena both took them out of the wing packs and gave them to Yuan.

"Er… so… I guess we're using Noishe all the way now?" Sheena asked flustered as she pictured both of them riding on Noishe.

"Yeah… hehe, I guess so." Lloyd said dumbly.

"Idiot." Sheena said under her breath, expecting Lloyd to blush.

_

* * *

Raine and Genis' house_

_Knock knock_

Lloyd opened the door without waiting for a response.

"Hey guys!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Raine shot up from the couch, dropping a book she was reading about healing, "Oh… h-hi Lloyd, you know you really ought to knock on the door." Raine said calming herself down.

"I did! By the way where's Genis?" Lloyd asked.

"Hi Raine!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Oh hey Sheena, it's nice to see you two again." Raine said softly, "Oh, and Genis is in the kitchen preparing food for our journey; and next time, wait for an answer before you come barging in like that." She sighed.

"Sorry." Lloyd said quickly as he walked to the kitchen, "Well, I'm going to go see Genis while you have your talk with Raine, Sheena."

"Y-you wanted to talk with me Sheena? What about?" Raine asked softly, slightly surprised.

"W-well… it's about love… and stuff, well, relationship stuff." Sheena said.

"Huh…? What's this about Sheena?" Raine inquired perplexed.

"Well… you see… there's this person…" Sheena started.

"Lloyd huh?" Raine laughed.

"Wha-… yeah… yeah I guess it was a bit obvious… hehe…" Sheena said awkwardly.

"So… what's on your mind?" Raine asked.

"Well… you know how Lloyd is dumb and all right…? Well I don't think he's getting my hints… but it's weird. I'm… pretty sure that he has feelings for me… but I don't think he knows how to express them. Oh, and he's been starting to hold my hand, which I'm sure is a sign of some sort… but he doesn't SAY anything." Sheena said.

"I see… so you want to find a way to get him to tell you how he feels about you?" Raine inquired.

"Yeah, that's the gist of it." Sheena replied.

"I see… why don't you directly tell him how you feel, or ask him how he feels?" Raine said.

"! But I'm the girl here! He's supposed to say something first!" Sheena exclaimed.

"You know the kitchen's not far away from here…" Raine stated.

"…"

"Anyway… I'm afraid that's the only suggestion I've got. I mean, there ARE other possibilities, but do you think Lloyd would be smart enough to pick up on what would be going on?" Raine asked rhetorically, "No, you'd have to do something direct. You'll see what I'm talking about once you really think about it."

"…Stupid Lloyd." Sheena sighed.

_

* * *

Kitchen_

"Mmm, tenderloin! Looks tasty! Can I have some?" Lloyd joked.

Genis turned around and saw Lloyd, "Hi to you too." Genis sighed, "Aren't you supposed to be on your journey?"

"Yeah I am, but I wanted to stop by Iselia one more time before we left, who knows how long the journey Sheena and I are on will take." Lloyd shrugged.

"Well thanks for stopping by. So… how are things with you and Sheena?" Genis winked.

Lloyd blushed, "Shut it Genis."

Genis sighed, "I was just kidding Lloyd…"

Lloyd was taken aback, "I… I-I knew that." He said with a weak smile.

"So there IS something between you and Sheena!" Genis exclaimed.

"N-No!... I… I don't know…" Lloyd said softly.

"Well it's pretty obvious that you both like each other." Genis stated boringly.

"…"

"Maybe… I don't know… she's been pretty friendly with me ever since Luin." Lloyd mumbled.

"No I think she likes you Lloyd. Go on a date with her or something, do something romantic." Genis said cheekily.

"…Maybe later, things are fine as they are right now, and it's not something I've felt the need to think about." Lloyd stated.

"You're boring." Genis said boringly.

"What! Hey! What's happening with you and Presea!" Lloyd laughed.

Genis' face turned red, "Well uh… uh…"

"Haha! Now you know how I feel!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Lloyd… actually, we talked about it, and she said that she needs sometime alone before we do anything… if we do anything about it. I… I would really prefer not to talk about it for now." Genis stated.

"Uh… oh… uh… sorry…" Lloyd said worriedly.

"It's nothing… I did the same to you, I guess we were both pretty immature!" Genis laughed.

"Hehe yeah… anyway, I need to ask the professor something." Lloyd said as he walked back to the living room.

_

* * *

Living room_

"Hey Raine, you don't think Lloyd and Colette have anything for each other right?" Sheena asked.

"Sheena…" Raine laughed, "Why would you worry about anything like that?"

"Well-"

"Hey guys! What're you talking about?" Lloyd asked.

"Oh. We were talking about you Lloyd." Raine smiled, kicking Sheena's legs lightly.

"Huh? What about?" Lloyd asked dumbly.

"Ahhh! She's just kidding. We were just talking about girl stuff!" Sheena exclaimed.

Lloyd laughed, "Anyway… professor, could Sheena and I borrow your monster list for our journey…? You know… just in case."

"Why sure you can Lloyd. Smart thinking." She replied, "Just let me get it for you, oh, and take care of it, I only have two copies."

"Thanks professor." Lloyd smiled.

The professor smiled as she left, "Any time Lloyd, I'll be right back."

"…"

"Hey Sheena, why is your face all red?" Lloyd asked.

"Huh? Oh… nothing, nothing at all!" Sheena responded, faking a laugh.

"Oh… weird." Lloyd said.

"…"

"…"

"I'm back. Here you are." Raine said.

"Thanks professor!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Any time Lloyd." Raine smiled.

"Anyway, should we be going Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, sure, we'll see you guys later!" Sheena said.

"Yeah, bye professor, bye Genis!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Bye Lloyd, bye Sheena." Raine gave them an assured look, "Good luck on your journey."

"Hey wait!" Genis shouted as he came running in with a box, handing it to Sheena "hehe, here Sheena, this is for you."

"Huh? What's this?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah, what is that?" Lloyd inquired.

"You'll find out. Bye Lloyd! Bye Sheena! Good luck together!" Genis smirked as he pushed Lloyd and Sheena out.

"…What was that about Genis?" Raine asked.

_

* * *

Outside_

"Hmm…" Sheena mumbled as she opened the box.

"I wonder what's inside…" Lloyd muttered.

"SHEENA! LLOYD!" Colette called out before the box was opened, "HI!"

"…Hey Colette!" Both of them yelled back.

"So what're you two doing back here?" Colette asked cheerfully.

"We just decided to come back here to see you, Genis and the professor one last time before we left. Who knows how long we could be gone. I also wanted the professor's monster list." Lloyd replied.

"Oh did you? That's so smart of you Lloyd!" Colette smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." Lloyd smiled back.

"Oh Lloyd! I almost forgot, I made two new friends! One's about my age, and the other one is the new teacher here. We should go meet up with them." She said.

"That's great Colette!" Lloyd exclaimed, "Where to?"

"Follow me!" Colette said excitedly.

* * *

With that, Sheena and Lloyd followed Colette, setting aside the box for now. Once they reached Lennox's house, Colette introduced everybody and they talked about all sorts of things for a while. Tila even asked if Lloyd and Sheena were dating, but the question was somehow avoided when Colette made a commotion in the other room while getting snacks. Then it was starting to get late. 

"Well… it's been nice getting to know everybody, but Sheena and I must be going now. We want to make some progress today." Lloyd said.

"Yeah… it's been nice getting to meet you all." Sheena added.

Everyone exchanged good-byes and Lloyd and Sheena set off to Triet.

* * *

"I assume it's off to Triet?" Sheena asked. 

Lloyd smiled, "Yeah, off to Triet."

Sheena smiled back, "Alright! Let's go!"

When the pair got to the entrance to Iselia, Noishe was patiently awaiting them.

"Let's go Noishe, to Triet!" Lloyd exclaimed.

_

* * *

At a secret underground base_

A person ran up to a grand chamber.

"Guard, let me in, I have news for the Lord." He commanded.

"Yes sir." The guard replied.

"Sir! There are two humans, a male and female, and they just destroyed the Iselia human ranch, along with ALL the exspheres." He reported.

"WHAT! REPEAT THAT!" ? commanded.

"There are two humans, a male and female, and they just destroyed the Iselia human ranch, along with ALL the exspheres." He repeated.

? widened his eyes, "AND YOU DID NOTHING TO STOP THEM!"

"Sir! The female was a summoner and the male-"

"EXCUSES! I'VE HEARD ENOUGH! I WANT THOSE TWO TAKEN CARE OF IMMEDIATELY!"

"But sir! What if they find out about us? Weren't we supposed to keep ourselves secret until-"

"WHAT DID I SAY?" ? shouted, giving the scout a fierce glare.

"Sir!" The scout stood to attention and walked out of the room.

"_Heheheheheh, little do they know that they've already been found out." _A spy smirked.

_

* * *

Raine: You sure do have a great body Sheena…  
Sheena: Oh Raine… 'blush_'  
Zelos: _'Wakes up_' Damn.  
What happened to the box? What's inside? What dangers lie ahead? Next time, **TO TRIET!**


	6. To Triet

**Berserk1: **Thanks! Great to know that it was funny:D

**Chapter 6: To Triet!**

_At the entrance of Iselia _

'_Whine_'

"Alright, let's get goin' then." Lloyd said cheerfully.

Lloyd and Sheena hopped onto Noishe, "Let's go Noishe."

Sheena wrapped her arms around Lloyd's waist, and her body pressed up against Lloyd's, "I'm ready." Noishe started moving.

"Uh…" Lloyd mumbled, starting to blush a bit.

"The breeze is nice isn't it?" Sheena asked playfully, resting her head on Lloyd's back.

"Yeah, it is…" Lloyd said calmly, still blushing, trying to avoid the fact that Sheena's body was touching his like that.

"_He's so warm and cuddly…" _Sheena thought bashfully.

During the next few minutes, all Lloyd could think about was whether he should tell Sheena how he felt about her or not, _"Dammit Genis, why'd you have to bring that up back then? What do I do? How do I tell Sheena? Argh! But everything's perfect the way it is now…like dad said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it."_

Sheena on the other hand, was reminiscing about all the great times Lloyd and her had had together, and wondering when Lloyd was going to say something about their relationship.

* * *

After an hour or two of day dreaming, Lloyd realized that Noishe had gone off path, "Noishe! What are you doing! Ah! Now I don't think we'll be able to make it to the tower of salvation!" 

"Huh…? Lloyd…? What's going on…?" Sheena asked, slowly waking up from a peaceful nap.

"Noishe's gone off path!" Lloyd exclaimed.

'_Whine'_ Noishe whined as he ran faster toward the wrong direction.

"Noishe!" Lloyd shouted.

"Hey Lloyd! What is that up there?" Sheena asked, seeing a weird rock formation.

Within a minute, they reached the rock formation.

"What… I don't recall seeing this before." Lloyd stated.

'_Whine' _Noishe cried out as he pawed at the grass.

"What is it Noishe?" Lloyd asked, as he and Sheena ran up to Noishe.

"Get back Noishe, CYCLONE SEAL!" Sheena exclaimed as the grass flew up revealing what seemed to be an attempt to construct an underground cave.

"What… is this?" Lloyd asked.

"Uhhh… looks to be some sort of entrance to somewhere." Sheena said.

"Let's try going in." Lloyd suggested. He walked in and Sheena followed.

'_Whine' _Noishe whined staying in place.

Lloyd sighed, "Scaredy Cat…"

Sheena laughed at his remark.

"Whoa it's really dark in here, hold on. I call upon the light of the heavens. I summon thee, come! Luna! Sheena chanted.

"What can I do for you?" Luna asked.

"Luna, illuminate this cave for us please." Sheena instructed.

Luna lit the cave up, and then disappeared.

"Good idea." Lloyd said as they both looked around.

All they saw was a big and empty cave.

"Hmmm… nothing here…" Lloyd said. Just then his eyes caught hold of something, he saw an exsphere lying on the ground. "Was this… some sort of storage for exspheres…?" He wondered as he destroyed the exsphere."

"Probably." Sheena said as she looked around for any more exspheres.

"Hey what's this?" Lloyd asked as he held up a scrap piece of paper. Lloyd showed it to Sheena and they read it together.

"_Forcystus doesn't know what he's getting himself into… I will make him pay severely for what he did to my brother. Hah! That stupid fool doesn't even know what's going to hit him, he's going to be my personal slave once I've taken over this world! No one will be able to stop me! I will build an ARMY of mindless super soilders obeying my every command! Nothing will be able to stop me! I, Lord L-"_

"Hmmm… it seems to cut off there… I… I don't like the looks of this." Sheena said.

"Yeah… I don't either." Lloyd agreed.

Lloyd pocketed the scrap of paper as he started feeling the walls for a possible secret entrance somewhere.

"What're you doing?" Sheena asked.

"I'm looking for a secret entrance. Errr… yeah." Lloyd replied dumbly.

Sheena looked surprised, "Good idea Lloyd! You're getting smarter!"

Lloyd blushed, "Sheena!"

Sheena laughed, "What? It's a compliment!"

"Oh." Lloyd replied dumbly.

Sheena laughed again.

After minutes of trying to look for some sort of secret entrance, they found nothing.

"Hmmm, seems like there's nothing but that exsphere I destroyed and this piece of paper." Lloyd sighed, hoping that they would have found something interesting.

"Yeah, it seems so…" Sheena sighed, also hoping for something exciting.

"Common, I think it's time we get outta here." Lloyd said, still thinking about the paper.

"Yeah." Sheena agreed.

With that, they headed back out to Noishe and continued to Triet.

"You know… I just can't stop thinking about this paper… What does it mean… do we still have an enemy out there using exspheres?" Lloyd asked as he took out the piece of paper again.

Sheena looked at Lloyd, then at the piece of paper.

"Beats me…" She said quietly.

"Well… I guess we'll find out later. Hopefully this isn't something big." Lloyd shrugged.

"Yeah…" Sheena agreed.

_

* * *

At the Tethe'alla Base_

"Sir!" A person in a desian costume shouted.

Yuan turned around, "What is it?"

"Word from one of our spies have confirmed that there is indeed activity in the area of the Toize Valley Mine." The renegade said.

"I see, thank you for your report." Yuan said, turning back around, "You are dismissed."

"Sir!" The renegade obeyed.

"_So they really do exist… I should inform Lloyd at once._" Yuan said quietly.

_

* * *

Cut back to Lloyd, Sheena and Noishe._

"Hey Lloyd, it's getting dark… we should set up camp." Sheena suggested.

"You're right… hehe, I'm getting tired too." Lloyd replied, "Alright Noishe, we're setting up camp over there!"

_Russle russle_

'_Whine!'_ Noishe whine as he stopped in place.

Becoming more aware, Lloyd and Sheena jumped off Noishe, drew their weapons (Materia blades/Divine Judgment), and assumed their battle stances. "Who's there!" Lloyd demanded.

"Show yourself!" Sheena shouted.

What looked like eight desians rushed around them in circles, and a big desian emerged from the bushes, laughing evily.

"So you two are the ones that have been causing us some trouble eh?" The big desian smirked.

"And who are YOU?" Lloyd demanded.

"Hahahaha, that's for me to know." He laughed maniacally, "PREPARE TO DIE!"

The eight smaller desians closed in on Lloyd and Sheena while the big desian stood there laughing, "Inferior Beings…"

Lloyd and Sheena stood back to back, "Sheena, I'll get these 4, you get the other half."

"Gotcha." Sheena replied.

Sheena jumped over four desians and used Cyclone Seal on one.

"Argh!" He shouted as he fell to the ground.

The three desians looked at their fallen comrade and charged Sheena, who Demon sealed another.

"DEMONIC CIRCLE!" Lloyd shouted, sending three desians flying back.

The lone desian left was staring at Lloyd with fear. Lloyd looked at the desian with hate in his eyes, "SONIC THRUST!" He shouted.

The deisan looked at him with cold eyes as he slowly fell to the ground, "I-infe..rio…r… ugh."

Lloyd looked over at Sheena, who was down to the last desian, "DEMON FANG!"

The desian turned and was hit by the demon fang. "ARGH!" He yelled, limping.

"Life Seal!" Sheena exclaimed.

The last desian fell to the ground with empty eyes.

Lloyd looked over at the big desian who was standing there, shocked with fear.

"Who are you! And who are you working for!" Lloyd demanded, slowly moving towards him.

"HA! You think YOU can order ME? Well THINK AGAIN!" He yelled, charging Lloyd.

"Fine… have it your way. Leave this to me Sheena!" Lloyd shouted jumping out of the way of the desian's chain ball.

Sheena nodded, "Alright Lloyd!"

"HAHAHAHA! You underestimate me… inferior being." The desian smirked as he charged Lloyd once again.

Lloyd stood there, awaiting him. Just as the desian was about to hit Lloyd with the ball, Lloyd jumped up, and ran up to him, "SWORD RAIN ALPHA!" and as he finished the combo, he took a diving stance, "RISING PHOENIX!" Lloyd shouted, piercing through the heart of the deisan.

Sheena smiled, "That's that."

"UGH!" The desian screamed. He stood there shortly, blood flowing out of his chest, swaying from side to side, "Lord… Lef… will… ugh." The desian murmured, falling down.

Lloyd turned around, "Lord who?" He took out the scrap of paper he had found earlier that day, "I, Lord L…" He read quietly.

"Lloyd, what is it?" Sheena asked, stepping over a dead desian's body.

"I was just thinking… if there are still desians out there… does it mean that this paper might mean something?" He questioned with a worried look.

"Let me see…" Sheena said softly as she took the paper from Lloyd's hands, "Lord L… Lord Lef… hmmm… I think you may be right Lloyd… We should be cautious from now on. There's no telling what's going to happen next."

"Yeah… we should." Lloyd agreed as Sheena handed back the piece of paper.

_At the same time in the bushes._

"_Oh no! They're as strong as I thought! I must report to Lord Lefance at once! Awww! I knew that showing ourselves would be a mistake! Now they know about us!"_ ? thought.

"…Common Lloyd, we should get going." Sheena said.

"Okay." Lloyd concurred.

? watched the pair and Noishe leave. Right then, he took a rheiard out of his wing pack and headed back towards a secret underground base.

"Huh? What was that?" Lloyd exclaimed turning his head around frantically.

"What was what?" Sheena asked.

"I swear I just heard a rheiard…" Lloyd murmured.

Sheena looked around, "I… don't see anything. It was probably the wind."

"Huh… I guess you're right." Lloyd said, "Anyway, let's set up camp over there." He continued pointing to the spot they had in mind before.

_

* * *

The spot Lloyd pointed to. _

"Well, time to set up camp!" Sheena said happily as she took a tent out of her wing pack.

"Yay! Sleep!" Lloyd shouted as he removed his armour and weapons.

'_Whine'_

When everything was set up, Lloyd and Sheena sat next to each other blushing, thinking to themselves.

"_I hope he says something…" _Sheena thought, "_You have to be direct Sheena!" _She remembered.

"_Argh! What do I do…? She's right here… um…"_ Lloyd thought as Sheena grabbed his hand, "Huh?"

"They sky's beautiful isn't it… so calm… so _romantic_. It's like there's magic in the air." Sheena said lustfully.

"Y-yeah… I-I guess so." Lloyd said dumbly, "_Now's the perfect chance to tell her Lloyd!"_

Sheena rested her head on Lloyd's shoulder, "You _guess_ so?"

Lloyd scratched the back of his head dumbly, "Oh… hehe, I know so!"

Sheena sighed, "So has there been anything new with your mom?"

"Hmmm…? Oh… no… I'm still waiting and hoping..." Lloyd murmured.

"Lloyd…" Sheena said softly as she hugged him affectionately, "I'll dream some good dreams for you."

"Sheena… thanks…" He uttered as he hugged Sheena back.

"You know I'll always be there for you… I'll always be by your side…" Sheena said warmly as she smiled at Lloyd.

Lloyd smiled at her, "And I will too."

"…"

"…"

"Oh yeah! What ever happened to that box?" He asked.

"Box…? Oh that one! The one that Genis gave us. We never did open it did we." Sheena said, getting the box out, "hmmm… I wonder what's inside."

Inside was a cake with a message reading, "I love you Sheena, -Lloyd."

_Blush_

"…"

"_Dammit Genis…"_ Lloyd muttered under his breath.

"Lloyd… You were just playing along eh… haha… you've finally come out with it. I… I love you too Lloyd." Sheena said lovingly.

"Huh? What?" Lloyd asked in an excited panic.

"Don't make me say it again!" Sheena exclaimed, still blushing.

"Sheena… I… I didn't make that cake, and I had no idea about it… It was Genis' idea of a joke…" Lloyd muttered.

"What…?" Sheena asked in embarrassment as her eyes started to water, "…Does that mean you don't…?"

"No no! That's not what I meant!" Lloyd paused as his face turned red again, "Uh…"

"…"

"…"

"Ha…haha… hahahaha… so then the message on this cake is true!" Sheena laughed weakly as she hugged Lloyd.

"Sheena… yeah… yeah it is…" Lloyd said affectionately as he hugged her back, _"So… I had nothing to be scared about all along… hehe… I'm an idiot, but it all worked out in the end! Thanks _Genis."

"_Hehe… you're still embarrassed Lloyd… but that's okay. We both know how we feel about each other now." _Sheena thought as both of them drifted to sleep next to each other.

_

* * *

Next Morning_

Sheena awoke, _"Yawn_."

She turned around and saw Lloyd right next to her, "Wake up Lloyd, wake up."

Lloyd opened his eyes slightly, "huh? Just a few more minutes." He pleaded, turning away from Sheena.

Sheena sighed, "Ah fine…"

She got up, stretched, and sat down, smiling at Lloyd.

'_Whine'_

Sheena turned around and saw Noishe slowly walking towards Lloyd.

_Lick_

"AH!" Lloyd shouted.

'_Whine'_

'_Yawn.' "_Okay okay, I'm awake." Lloyd mumbled, blinking his eyes.

"Good morning Lloyd." Sheena smiled lovingly.

"Morning Sheena." Lloyd smiled back, "Morning Noishe."

'_Whine'_

"Well I'm going to go make breakfast." Sheena said cheerfully.

"Ah… what a beautiful day… and what a beautiful lady…" Lloyd said softly.

"You seem awfully happy this early in the morning Lloyd." Sheena giggled.

"Yeah… well… I have a whole lot to be happy about don't I Sheena?" Lloyd replied.

"We both do." Sheena responded lovingly.

"Can I help make breakfast?" Lloyd asked as he walked up to Sheena.

"I'm just making sandwiches Lloyd! I'm done already! But thanks…" Sheena said as she touched Lloyd lovingly.

"Hehe…" Lloyd blushed, "Alright, let's eat!"

"You know it sure took you a long time to finally tell me how you felt." Sheena said playfully.

"Huh! You knew!" Lloyd exclaimed.

Sheena laughed, "Of course! It's been pretty obvious lately Lloyd. You also hold my hand a lot."

"Hehe… Sorry… I… I just didn't want to spoil what we already had. Besides… I wasn't sure how you felt…" Lloyd replied.

"Oh Lloyd… you idiot. I thought I made it painfully obvious in Heimdall!" Sheena said.

"Hehe… sorry… I'm a bit dumb sometimes." Lloyd laughed.

Sheena smiled and then pecked Lloyd on the cheek, "Well that's your only flaw, and besides, you're starting to get smarter."

Lloyd blushed furiously, and then started to eat his sandwich.

Sheena laughed and ate her sandwich.

* * *

After they finished their breakfast, they flirted a bit more with each other, dressed, packed everything up, got on Noishe and set off for Triet. It was past noon, when they saw the Iselia tower of salvation appeared before them. 

"Hey it's the tower of salvation, wanna go rest and wash-up there?" Lloyd asked Sheena.

"Sure." She replied.

_At the Iselia Tower of Salvation 3 minutes later._

"We're finally here! Let's go wash up." Lloyd suggested, "I think my armour has a bit of blood stained on it."

"Hehe, alright, let's go." Sheena agreed, "Hey! Isn't that Yuan?"

"Yeah, what's he doing there?" Lloyd asked.

"Don't know, let's go ask him." Sheena said.

"Hey Noishe, you can rest over at the pen over there." Lloyd said, pointing to a pen near the tower.

'_Whine'_ Noishe whined as he walked into the pen to rest.

"Lloyd. Sheena." Yuan greeted.

Lloyd and Sheena wondered what he wanted with them, "Hey. What're you doing here?" Lloyd asked.

"Lloyd, Sheena, I have urgent news to tell you. My spies have confirmed activity of desian movement near the area of the Toize Valley Mine. Apparently, their leader is planning to take over the world. Personally, I think it's a joke… talent that surpassed Mithos', or any of the Five Grand Cardinals would have been noticed." Yuan said, "Anyway, I thought you two should know, and the renegades would appreciate any help you could give."

"I was right…" Lloyd said softly, "Well, Sheena and I would be glad to give a helping hand, right Sheena?"

Sheena nodded.

"Yeah, so what can we help you with?" Lloyd asked.

"At the moment… nothing. The renegades still have not found their base. We think that it might be underground, or in the mountains, we are not too sure about this yet, but we cannot afford to let them know that there are people watching them." Yuan responded.

"I see, alright, thanks for letting us know." Lloyd said.

"No problem, now I will be on my way. Lloyd. Sheena." Yuan nodded as he teleported back to the Tethe'alla base.

"So you were right…" Sheena murmured.

Lloyd bit his lip softly, "Yeah… Sheena, we have to be careful, this journey might be more dangerous than we thought."

Sheena nodded, "I know."

"Sheena." Lloyd said.

Sheena turned to him, "Mmhmm?"

"I'll always protect you, no matter what. I promise you this." Lloyd declared.

Sheena smiled, "Thanks Lloyd, I will too."

Lloyd smiled back as he took her hand, "Common, let's get going."

"Kay." Sheena agreed cheerfully.

_

* * *

In the tower_

"Let's get a room Lloyd." Sheena said brushing against Lloyd's shoulder.

Lloyd blushed and smiled, "Okay."

The pair went up the stairs to ask for a room, greeting the tower's priest along the way. When they reached the top level, there was a priestess there.

"Will you be staying here for the night?" She asked.

"We'd just like a room for the afternoon." Lloyd replied.

"Alright then, two people I presume?" The priestess inquired.

"Yeah, two people." Lloyd responded.

"Okay, that'll be one-hundred gald." The priestess said.

Lloyd handed the priestess the gald and headed into the room the she directed them.

The room was pretty small. It had one queen-sized bed, a table, and two chairs.

"Well, I'm going to go take a shower Lloyd. You go wash your armour and then we'll switch." Sheena said.

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit." Lloyd replied as he headed down the stairs to a place to wash clothing.

_

* * *

Meanwhile elsewhere…_

A door to a grand chamber opened. A desian came running in.

"Sir! The humans took out eight of our men, as well as Polygh. None of our men were able to lay a scratch on them." The desian said, bowing down.

? turned around, "What? What kind of humans are they?"

"Sir! One is a ninja summoner, and the other is a swordsman, a very skilled one. It also appears that they both had exspheres." The desian replied.

"_Hmmm… I must have underestimated those two. _Send out Yfir and his men... immediately." ? said, turning back around.

"Sir yes sir!" The desian shouted, running out of the chamber.

"_Heheheh, yes, weaken your forces…"_ A spy smirked.

_

* * *

Later in the afternoon at the Iselia Tower of Salvation after Sheena had showered and Lloyd had cleaned his armour_

"Oh that feels much better!" Lloyd said as he stepped out of the washroom with a towel on, "…Sheena? You don't have any clothes to wash?"

Sheena laughed, "No, I never said I did. Why are you asking? Too embarrassed to change in front of me?"

"…" Lloyd stood there dumbly, "Can you at least look the other direction?"

Sheena giggled, "Okay okay."

_A few more seconds passed by._

"Alright, I'm done now." Lloyd said, "Should we go?"

"Why don't we stay a bit longer? Triet's not that far away. Besides, I feel like resting in a bed." Sheena said happily.

"Alright… just for an hour." Lloyd shrugged.

"Hey come join me, I bet you're pretty tired too." Sheena giggled.

"…I suppose, but there's only one bed." Lloyd said.

Sheena sighed, "Well it's big enough for the both of us isn't it?"

"Yeah that's true. But I want to make it to Triet for tonight at least. I don't want to risk oversleeping." Lloyd said.

"Wow… you've become more responsible." Sheena said.

"Hehe, you think?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah… it makes that much more attractive." Sheena smiled lustfully.

"Well I guess I'll join you." Lloyd said.

"Alright, wake me up in one hour Mr. responsible." Sheena teased as she closed her eyes.

"Whoa… it's like we've switched roles here…" Lloyd said softly as he looked at Sheena, "Hmmm… it's comfortable…"

As Lloyd said that, Sheena rolled next to Lloyd, pressed her body against him and put her arm around his chest.

Lloyd blushed, "It's really comfortable."

Sheena smiled and then started to doze off.

"…She's so beautiful…" Lloyd murmured as he looked at Sheena and dozed off as well.

* * *

"_Lloyd…"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Lloyd…"_

"_Mom?"_

"_Lloyd… this isn't a dream… and neither was the last time. Know this Lloyd…" _The voice said as it drifted away.

"_MOM!"_

"MOM!" Lloyd shouted as he woke up in a hurry.

"L-Lloyd…? What happened?" Sheena asked as she woke up in a daze.

"Mom! I think my mom just spoke to me again!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Whoa! That's great Lloyd! What did she say?" Sheena asked excitedly.

"Sh-She told me that I wasn't dreaming, and that I wasn't dreaming the last time either…." Lloyd replied.

"Oooo I'm so happy for you Lloyd!" Sheena exclaimed as she hugged Lloyd.

"Heheh… thanks Sheena." Lloyd smiled, "Mom…"

"…"

"Anyway, let's get going. It's been an hour." Lloyd said, looking at the time.

"Hehe, okay Lloyd." Sheena smiled.

With that, they packed up, said good-bye to the priest and priestess and went down to Noishe.

"Alright Noishe, let's go." Lloyd said as Noishe came out of the pen, "To Triet!"

And so the trio headed to Triet, unaware of the dangers ahead of them.

* * *

Lloyd: YES! SCORE ONE FOR ME! TAKE THAT ZELOS! I GOT SHEENA! Man! This is so awesome! What a great body too! I can't wait 'til she and I-  
Me: That's so OOC.  
Lloyd: …  
Next time, **TRIET!**


	7. Triet

**Anbufang23:** Thank you, I'll fully take that into consideration and make it better. :)

**Berserk1: **Yay cake:D

**LordSymphonia:** Thanks! Sheena is awesome indeed. ;)

A/N: I fixed a minor error on chapter 3 that came out like this: "/", instead of this: "/././"(I have to use the periods because Document Manager doesn't preserve 3 slashes in a row). I also fixed a minor error at the end of chapter 4 in the mini-script that came out like this: runs, instead of this: _'runs'_.  
Besides that, there are probably some other things that were not persevered in the transfer from MWord to the document manager because of me not proofreading, but hopefully they're all forgiveable. Anyway, on with the story!

**Chapter 7: Triet**

It was a sunny out, and Lloyd, Sheena and Noishe were almost at Triet when they saw five figures standing out in the desert.

A man turned around and saw the two humans and an animal, "STOP!" He bellowed, running towards them.

Lloyd and Sheena looked puzzled, "W-who are you?" Lloyd asked.

The man stood there and stared at them for a while, then pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"_Lloyd, I don't like the looks of this…_" Sheena whispered to Lloyd.

"_Yeah… me neither, be prepared to attack._" Lloyd responded.

The man looked back up at them, "Hahahaha, so you are the one that has been causing us trouble, well prepare to die! I am Lord Yfir!" He shouted.

Lloyd and Sheena drew their weapons, Noishe ran away like usual, and the man and his minions charged them.

"DEMONIC CHAOS!" Lloyd shouted, aiming at one of the henchmen.

He dodged the first two fangs but was hit by the last, "AGH!" He yelled, continuing towards Lloyd.

"Whoa, these guys are tough." Lloyd said, dodging an arrow.

"Lloyd! I'll get the archers!" Sheena shouted to Lloyd.

Upon hearing this, the archers started aiming at Sheena, dodging her Cyclone Seals.

After a couple of missed cyclone seals, she hit an archer. The archer she was aiming at got caught in it and was thrown up in the air, "Agh! What… what's happening! AHH!" He screamed as he imploded.

The other archer looked at his partner, "NO! WYER!" He shouted, and then turned to Sheena, "DIE!"

He shot off an arrow, and it whizzed by Sheena's ear.

"_Ah, that was close._" Sheena thought, running up to the archer, "POWER SEAL PINION!"

The archer dodged it, "I don't think so." He launched an arrow, grazing Sheena's left shoulder.

"AH!" Sheena shouted, holding her left shoulder.

"SHEENA!" Lloyd shouted, dodging a thrust, "DEMON FANG!"

The archer looked to his side, widening his eyes; the demon fang hit him. "AGH!" He shouted, kneeling down.

Sheena ran up to him, "MIRAGE SEAL!" then ran around him, "POWER SEAL ABSOLUTE! DEMON SEAL!"

The archer's body began to darken, "Ugh… what's… happen…ing to… me…" and soon, he fell down, lifeless.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was fighting Yfir and two other of his henchmen.

Lloyd jumped up, "PSI TEMPEST!"

Yfir and one of the henchmen dodged it, but the other was not as fortunate. One of the spins sliced off his fighting arm, "AH! MY ARM!" Blood was gushing out, and the henchmen saw his arm and sword on the ground.

Lloyd turned around mid-way through the air, "RISING FALCON!"

The henchmen who had dodged Lloyd's previous attack was now dead, with blood oozing out from his chest.

Lloyd now faced a weaponless henchmen and Yfir.

Yfir looked over at his archers, then at his dead swordsman. His eyes lit up with anger, "METEOR STORM!"

Lloyd and Sheena started to dodge the meteors, but the armless henchmen was hit by one, and was killed that second. Lloyd and Sheena and started to close in on Yfir, but as they came within a three-metre radius, a meteor headed towards Sheena.

Sheena looked up at the meteor, she knew she would not be able to dodge it. "GUARDIAN SEAL!"

The meteor hit her, and she was sent back over eight metres.

"AH!" She screamed in pain, she was not bleeding, but she was in an immense amount of pain.

"SHEENA!" Lloyd shouted glancing back at Sheena. His eyes turned cold and a black aura surrounded him, he glared at Yfir, "YOU BASTARD!"

As Yfir finished his spell, Lloyd ran up to him and swung his sword down on him.

"YOU'LL PAY!" Lloyd shouted, pressing his blade against Yfir's.

"HAHAHA! INFERIOR BEING, I WILL NEVER LOSE TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" Yfir yelled.

They're blades were pressed against each other's, Lloyd was winning, but then a black aura surrounded Yfir as well, "DIE HUMAN!"

Yfir started pressing his blades even harder against Lloyd's, but Lloyd jumped back, "DEMONIC CHAOS!" He cried out.

Yfir smirked, dodging them, "Is that the best you can do?"

While Yfir and Lloyd continued to fight, Sheena recovered slowly. She was hurt seriously, but she was not about to have Lloyd get hurt too. Breathing heavily, she began to chant. "I call upon the heavenly messengers. I summon thee, come, Sylph!"

Yfir turned around, a figure with wings attempted an upper cut on him, and blaze of arrows came towards him at high speeds, but he dodged them. Suddenly, he saw a shield appear in front of him, and it came crashing down on him, then disappeared.

"AGH!" Yfir yelled out in pain.

Lloyd saw his chance, Yfir's chest was wide open; he ran up to him, "Hunting Beast!" Lloyd shouted, bringing Yfir to the ground with a punctured heart and rib cage.

"Lord Lefance will destroy you…" Yfir struggled to say as he died.

Lloyd was panting hard, he ran up to Sheena. "Thank you Sheena." He said, helping her up.

Sheena smiled at Lloyd, "I'm glad you're okay."

Lloyd noticed the gash on her left shoulder and bruise marks all over her body, "Sheena! You're hurt!" He exclaimed, "Hold on."

"NOISHE! NOISHE WHERE ARE YOU?" Lloyd shouted.

'_Whine'_ Noishe came running up to Lloyd. He grabbed the medical wing pack from Noishe, pulled out a Miracle Gel, and fed it to Sheena.

"There Sheena… you feeling better?" Lloyd asked concerned.

Sheena could feel her wound getting better, "Yeah… thanks Lloyd."

Lloyd blushed, "Ah it was nothing… I should be thanking you for summoning Sylph to distract him."

Sheena smiled at him, Lloyd was barely hurt from that fight, and she was glad. She would never forgive herself if Lloyd were hurt, whether she was helpless or not.

"Damn those Desians… this is going to be harder than we thought." Lloyd said softly.

"Well the best we can do is just fight them off slowly, right Lloyd?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah, but I can't wait 'til Yuan finds them, I'm going to march up to their door and kill them all!" Lloyd said, with anger burning in his eyes.

"Calm down Lloyd, there's nothing much we can do right now." Sheena told him.

Lloyd sulked, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Sheena hugged him, "It's alright, now let's get going to Triet. We shouldn't stay in one place for too long."

Lloyd nodded in agreement, as he placed the wing pack back on Noishe. With that, they headed off for Triet.

_

* * *

Meanwhile…_

"_! They killed Yfir and his men? Oh I'm going to get in so much shit…" _A scout thought as he jumped on his rheiard and headed back to a secret underground base.

_

* * *

Several hours later in the evening._

"Ah, we're finally here..." Lloyd sighed, tired from the heat and the previous fight.

"Yeah… and I'm pretty parched." Sheena panted.

They entered Triet, and Lloyd directed Noishe to the pen.

"You wanna get a room?" Lloyd asked Sheena.

"Yeah, sure." Sheena replied.

"Alright." Lloyd said.

They walked into the Triet inn and the innkeeper looked at them, "What may I help you with?" She asked.

"One room for the night please." Lloyd requested.

"Okay, that'll be 200 gald." The innkeeper stated.

Lloyd handed the innkeeper the gald, and she gave them the room number and key.

"Thanks." Lloyd said, receiving the key.

The innkeeper nodded and smiled.

"Alright, do you need to rest Sheena?" Lloyd asked.

"No I'm fine, what about you?" Sheena responded.

"Me neither… Anyway, I'm going to go talk with the katz." Lloyd said.

"Okay, I'm coming too." Sheena nodded.

"_They sell exspheres, and I cannot allow that…"_ Lloyd said under his breath.

Sheena heard what he had just said, "Don't do anything too drastic, okay Lloyd?"

Lloyd nodded, "I know."

* * *

They walked over to the Katz stand, and talked with the Katz selling the exspheres. 

"Meow Meow! What can I interest you in?" The katz asked delightedly.

"Exspheres, I want them destroyed." Lloyd said sternly.

"Meow? Why?" The katz inquired.

Sheena leaned over to Lloyd, "_I think it would be better if I took over_."

Lloyd turned his head to her, "_Alright._"

"Exspheres contain the souls of lifeless human beings, and the longer the exsphere remains intact, the longer the soul suffers, so we're trying to help these people and destroy all the exspheres in the world." Sheena said.

She went on about what exspheres really were, and their origin.

The katz looked at Sheena puzzled, "Meow? I did not know about this, I'm just doing my job. I will talk this over with our supervisor, meow."

"Alright." Sheena nodded, as the katz walked away.

"…" Lloyd stared at the katz.

"What's wrong?" Sheena asked caringly.

"Don't you think they say 'meow' too often?" Lloyd inquired.

"Maybe… but why does it matter?" Sheena questioned.

"It just gets annoying sometimes…" Lloyd sighed.

Sheena laughed, "Oh Lloyd…"

They waited for the katz to return, and after a few minutes of discussing the matter with her supervisor, she returned.

"My supervisor will be coming to talk to you guys soon, meow." The katz said.

Within a minute, the supervisor katz was there, "Meow, we're going to send one of us back to Katz Village to talk to our elder. If he agrees to get rid of the exspheres then we will, but at the moment, we cannot do anything. Heartfelt apologies, meow." The katz said.

"…Alright." Lloyd sighed.

"Check back in a while at one of the Katz outposts, Meow." He replied.

The sky was starting to darken even more.

"It's getting dark out. Wanna go back to the inn Lloyd?" Sheena asked.

"Sure." Lloyd responded.

Together, they walked back to the inn and went up to their room.

_

* * *

In the room_

"I'm going to go take a bath okay Lloyd?" Sheena said.

"Alright, but don't take too long." Lloyd replied laying down on the bed, taking off his blades, headband and armour.

After twenty minutes had passed, Sheena came back into the room with her bath towel on.

She looked at Lloyd and found him asleep, so she decided to change on the spot.

"_Lloyd…" A voice said._

"_Mom…?" _

"Lloyd… wake up." Sheena said.

Lloyd woke up in a daze, laying still in his bed, "Sheena?"

"…What's wrong Lloyd?" Sheena asked.

"I thought mom was trying to speak to me again…" Lloyd replied.

"Oh… I woke you up… ah I'm so sorry!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Oh no it's okay, you didn't know." Lloyd shrugged.

"Mmm… sorry…" Sheena said as she hugged Lloyd, "…I'll go cook some food while you're in the shower." Sheena said.

"Awesome, I was a bit hungry." Lloyd smiled as he entered the bathroom.

After a quick shower, and a relatively quiet dinner that revolved around Sheena apologizing again for disturbing Lloyd in his sleep and Lloyd continuously forgiving her, Sheena invited Lloyd to go out on a walk with her.

_

* * *

Outside_

"It's nice and peaceful out tonight." Lloyd said happily as he held Sheena's hand.

"Sure is…" Sheena agreed.

"I wish it could always be like this…" Lloyd murmured.

"Yeah… it'll be nice to settle down after all this is over." Sheena said.

"Sure will be." Lloyd agreed, "But right now, we have to focus on our journey ahead."

"Definitely." Sheena said, "…Hey Lloyd, remember that time in Flanoir…"

"Hmmm? Oh. Yeah. That was a night to remember." Lloyd said.

"Hehe… well remember when you said we could be great friends?" Sheena asked.

"Yeah…?" Lloyd responded.

"Now do you know why I called you an idiot?" Sheena asked as she playfully shoved Lloyd with her shoulder.

Lloyd laughed weakly, "I'm a bit stupid sometimes…"

Just then, they heard shouts and cries of pain.

"Stay away from them!" Someone shouted, "Cyclone!"

The shout was followed by screams.

"Genis?" Lloyd asked himself aloud as he and Sheena ran towards the noise.

"Could be." Sheena replied.

"Ray!" Another shout was heard.

They were getting closer to the noise.

"Thunder arrow!" A familiar voice yelled out again.

"Genis! FIRST AID!" Another shout went out.

"It's Genis and Raine!" Lloyd and Sheena said to each other.

Turning the corner, Lloyd and Sheena saw eight desians closing in on Genis and Raine.

"Ahhh! This is it Raine…!" Genis cried as the desians came up with their swords.

"Genis! Don't be scared!" Raine yelled worriedly.

Just as the desians came within a metre of them, a continuous number of yells of pain were heard.

Two desians were left, and they were shocked at the sight of their bloody, fallen comrades.

"Lloyd! Sheena!" Genis and Raine shouted in delight.

"Hi guys!" Sheena shouted back quickly.

Lloyd and Sheena closed in on them, "Who sent you, and why?" Lloyd questioned fiercely.

"Hahaha! We will never tell you, you inferior being." One desian laughed.

The other desian was quiet and looked at them in fear. She put her hands on her head and kneeled down.

"What! You coward! How could you surrender to humans! DIE!" The other desian shouted as he began to swing his sword toward the woman.

Right then, he felt a quick pain at his neck and fell. The other desian looked in horror as she saw the dead desian's wrung neck.

"AHHHHH!" She screamed, "Please, please don't hurt me, I'll tell you everything I know."

"Who sent you and why?" Lloyd asked again, sternly.

"We-we're a… a scout team. We were… se-sent b-by L-Lord Le-Le-Le-" The woman stuttered as she was cut off.

"Oh come out with it already. We're not going to hurt you… yet." Raine stated coldly as she dusted herself off.

"Raine…" Sheena mumbled as she turned to the female desian, "Look, we aren't going to hurt you, just calm down and tell us everything." She said softly.

Still in shock, the woman continued, " L-lord Lefance… He s-sent us to l-look for a-a male swordsman i-in red, a-and a fe-female ninja, a-and learn their names." She replied very timidly.

Lloyd's eyes softened, "I see…"

Lloyd and Sheena turned to Genis and Raine.

"Are you two alright?" Lloyd asked.

"Yes, we're fine… thanks to you two." Raine said softly as she noticed the disappointed look in Sheena's face.

"Yeah… thanks, we thought we were goners…" Genis added.

Lloyd smiled, "Glad to know that."

They four turned to look at the desian, who had taken off her helmet to reveal blonde, silky hair, and a beautiful face which matched perfectly with her gorgeous figure.

"Who are you, and what's your background?" Lloyd asked sympathetically, thinking that he should be a bit lenient to an unarmed female, even though she was a desian.

"M-me?" She inquired nervously.

"Yeah." Lloyd responded.

"W-well m-my, my name… i-is Cha-Charlotte. I-"

"Hey, you don't have to be scared, just as Sheena and Raine said, we won't you hurt you." Lloyd smiled as he looked at the others nodding his head.

The rest nodded and smiled at Charlotte, though she still felt very uneasy.

_

* * *

In the background_

"Sheena… I… I didn't mean to be so mean back there… it's… a bad habit… I-I was just being too precautionary again… and… I'm sorry." Raine apologized softly as she gently grabbed Sheena's fingers.

"…You… you don't have to apologize…" Sheena said warmly as she turned her hand to hold Raine's hand.

* * *

Charlotte looked at Lloyd and the others in fear. Hesitating for a bit, she continued in her sweet voice, staring at the ground, "W-well… I was born into the desian race… I never really met my parents, but my guardian told me that Lord Lefance killed them for refusing to kill a human. I… I was never taught anything but to fight. The desians forced me to fight… I… I wanted to just live like any other normal person… but they told me that it was impossible and that humans were our enemies… so I trained along side many other desians… I-I was always alone… I never had any friends, and everyone said I was too soft, and that I was a dishonour to the name 'desian'. It's been continuing for sixteen years; I was six when I was taught everything…" 

Lloyd, Sheena, Genis and Raine were all listening, and they could not help but feel sorry for her.

"You look hurt… here, let me help you." Raine said affectionately, healing Charlotte with her staff and noticing Sheena smile.

Charlotte managed a weak smile, "Th-thank you…" She went back to staring at the ground. "Just one year ago, my regiment was shifted out of the Iselia Human Ranch. I really couldn't stand that place… and I was happy to leave. I… I hate people dying…" Our regiment went into hiding near the Toize Valley Mine in Tethe'alla, and has stayed there ever since."

"Bah, there's discrimination everywhere, the desians even discriminate amongst themselves…" Lloyd sighed irritated.

"…" Charlotte stared at Lloyd, not knowing what to do.

"Half-elves… they're really no better than humans…" Genis said to himself.

"Charlotte, you're welcome to come along with us, or be free. You did not deserve to be treated like that." Sheena said.

"Yeah." Lloyd smiled.

"Mhmm!" Genis exclaimed cheerfully.

Raine nodded.

Charlotte looked at all of them, "R-really?" She asked, not believing how kindly she was being treated.

"Of course." Raine beamed.

"…Thank you all…" Charlotte murmured.

Lloyd turned to Raine, "So what happened here?"

"Well, we saw some desians shouting and threatening to attack two humans, demanding if they knew anyone in red who carried twin swords, and a female ninja." Raine replied.

"I see… So you and Genis just arrived here or something?" Lloyd asked.

"Yep." Genis said, turning his head to Lloyd.

"How'd you guys get here so fast?" Lloyd asked.

"We used our rheairds…?" Genis replied questioningly.

"But I thought Yuan took them back…" Sheena said.

"Huh? We haven't seen him for a while." Raine replied.

"…"

"…"

"Why are you two so surprised?" Genis asked.

"Well… Yuan took our rheairds back… he said he wanted to improve the design." Lloyd said stupidly.

Genis laughed, "Well hopefully you get them back soon."

"Yeah…" Sheena sighed, "So are you two staying here tomorrow too?" She asked, looking at Genis and Raine.

"Yeah, we're going talk to the person who runs Triet and hopefully get them to cooperate with us." Raine answered, "What about you two?"

"Well Sheena and I were about to head off for Izoold tomorrow, but it seems like you two might be taking the same path as us, and the fact that there's still some sort of threat looming in this world, I think that we should travel together. We could stop by the renegade base to try to get some rheairds. It'll be just like old times." Lloyd responded maturely.

"Wow, Lloyd's getting smarter by the minute!" Genis teased as Raine and Sheena laughed.

"Oh shut it Genis." Lloyd laughed.

"Well it sounds like a plan!" Raine said, "You in Sheena?"

"Of course Raine!" Sheena exclaimed happily, "Let's see those desians try to take us down now!"

"How about you?" Raine asked, looking at Charlotte, who was already looking back at them peculiarly.

"Aren't you two half-elves?" Charlotte asked timidly.

"Genis and I?" Raine asked, pointing to Genis and herself.

"Y-yeah." Charlotte responded.

"Yes, we're half-elves." Raine nodded.

Charlotte stared at them, "Human and half-elves… together…?" She asked herself.

Lloyd walked up to her, "Charlotte, humans and half-elves are the same, they are both living beings, and have every right the other has. They are both equal." Lloyd said as everyone nodded their heads.

Charlotte smiled weakly, "…thanks…"

"So do you want to come along with us Charlotte?" Lloyd asked.

"But I'd only get in the way…" She replied softly.

"I'm sure you're strong enough to defend yourself, or heck, you could even be the same as Noishe!" Lloyd laughed.

"N-Noishe…?" Charlotte asked perplexed.

"Uh… oh that's right, you don't know him… well he's my pet dog-or protozoan- or Air… something. Whatever he was called, and he always runs away when we gets into fights, but comes back whenever we're done." Lloyd said dumbly.

"Oh…" Charlotte murmured, half-understanding what Lloyd had just said, "Well… sure… I guess… I'll come along."

"That's good to hear!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Welcome to the group!" Everyone else said cheerfully.

"Thanks everyone… I'll do my best to help." Charlotte said sheepishly.

"One thing though, get some confidence." Raine smiled.

"…Yeah… I'll try." Charlotte mumbled.

"Anyway, we should head back for the inn, it's getting really dark." Raine announced.

"You guys have a room already?" Lloyd asked.

"Yeah, and I take it that you two have one as well?" Raine responded.

"Yup!" Sheena said cheerfully.

"That's good." Raine smiled, "Charlotte, Genis and I have a room. You're welcome to stay with us for the night."

"Really? …Thanks you two!" Charlotte exclaimed, letting her voice out for the first time.

Everyone smiled, "Oh yeah, for clothes, you can wear some of mine, I packed quite a bit, and we have the same figure." Raine added.

"Thanks Raine…" Charlotte said as her eyes sparkled in gratitude.

With that, everyone headed back to the inn as Lloyd explained the new Desian threat. When they reached the inn, everyone exchanged good-nights and retired to their rooms.

_

* * *

Next Morning_

_Knock knock_

"Who is it?" Sheena questioned.

"Raine." Raine replied through the door.

Sheena opened the door, "Good Morning." She said happily.

"Lloyd's still asleep I see, we should wake him up." Raine laughed.

"Raine…" Sheena mumbled.

"Yeah?" Raine asked.

"Thanks for being so nice and welcoming to Charlotte." Sheena smiled.

"You still remember the first time we met…" Raine said weakly, "I'm sorry about then… but I've changed."

"It's okay Raine… I forgave you a long time ago. It's just… it makes me really happy to see you like this." Sheena said warmly.

Raine blushed, "Thank you Sheena… I'll… I'll keep it up." She murmured as they hugged each other affectionately.

'_CRASH'_

"OW!" Lloyd yelped in pain as he fell of the bed.

"Lloyd? Hey you're awake!" Sheena exclaimed.

Raine laughed, "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Thanks." Lloyd said stupidly.

"Well now that you're awake, I came to tell you two that Genis and I are going to head out for the mayor's office, and we were wondering if you could look after Charlotte while we were gone." Raine stated.

"Sure, we'd be happy too." Sheena responded, "Do you know when you guys will be done?"

"Who knows… but hopefully it won't take the whole day." Raine answered with a boring shrug.

Sheena laughed, "Okay Raine, we'll be waiting for you."

"Bye Sheena, bye Lloyd." Raine waved as she exited the room.

"Over here Charlotte!"

"Hey Mister and Misses Irving." Charlotte said shyly as she walked into the room.

"Hey Charlotte!" Sheena and Lloyd both exclaimed, when they realized what Charlotte had just said.

"…"

"…"

'_blush'_

"…"

"Let me guess, Genis told you we were married?" Lloyd sighed.

"Oh… um… well Genis told me to call you two that… uh…" Charlotte mumbled.

Lloyd sighed with a laugh, "Stupid Genis."

"Sheena Irving… Lloyd Fujibayashi… Lloyd Aurion… Sheena Aurion…" Sheena was muttering to herself quietly, still blushing, in her own world.

"Uh… Sheena…?" Lloyd blushed, hearing what she was muttering.

Sheena smiled at Lloyd, "Yes?"

"…Nothing…" Lloyd laughed.

"I'm sorry… am I interrupting something?" Charlotte asked as she started to step out.

Lloyd gave a sheepish smile as he looked worriedly at Sheena, "Of course not!"

Afterwards, Lloyd and Sheena fully introduced themselves to Charlotte, telling her that they were not married (yet), and all about their journey. All of a sudden, it was noon.

_Knock knock_

"Hey guys! We're all done!" Genis shouted through the door.

"Hey! How'd it go?" Lloyd asked as he opened the door.

"It went… well. It was a bit tough, but long story short, we got the mayor to help diminish the prejudice against half-elves throughout Triet." Raine stated.

"That's great to hear Raine!" Sheena exclaimed.

"Way to go you two!" Lloyd said cheerfully.

"Congratulations!" Charlotte muttered happily.

"Thanks." Raine and Genis replied.

"So should we get going?" Raine asked.

"Sure. Are we all ready?" Lloyd asked.

Everyone nodded, got their belongings, picked Noishe up, and headed to the renegade base and Izoold.

_**End chapter.**_

* * *

Me: I… I don't know why I'm adding in some RaineXSheena… It's probably nothing significant. They're just close friends who care for each other, a lot.  
Raine: Unless you want to see more. ;)  
Sheena: _'purr' _Then just tell us. ;)  
Me: Wtf.  
Readers (probably): Wtf.  
Kratos and Lloyd: Wtf… _'cry'_  
ANYWAY… this started off as a LloydXSheena fic, and so far it's been enjoyable. Does it end that way though? Let's hope so. Next time, **TO IZOOLD!**  
Zelos: YES! MY DREAM I-_'gets shot'_  
x.x  



End file.
